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AN 


HISTORICAL  DISQUISITION 


ON    THE 


MAMMOTH, 


OR, 


dPreat  Zmtxitm  3fncosnitum, 

AN  EXTlNcf,  IMMENSE,  CARNIFOROUS  ANIMAL, 

WHOSE 

FOSSIL  REMAINS 

HAVE   BEEN  70UNO   IN 

JBortF)  America, 


Containing  some  introductory  Observations,  a  Narrative  of  the.  Dis- 
covery of  nearly  an  entire  Skeleton  near  New  York,  in  the  Autumn 
of  i8oi,  together  with  a  comparative  Description,  and  occasional 
Remarks  :  illustrated  with  Engravings. 


By  REMBRANDT  PEALE, 


LONDON: 

PRINTED    FOR  E.  LAWRENCE,  NO.  378,  STRAND. 
BY     C.  MERCIZR, 

Northumberland-court,  Strand. 


1803. 


To  Charles  Willson  Peale. 


In  addressing;  this  to  one  of  the 
best  of  fathers,  it  is  but  just  that  the 
world  should  know  how  much,  and 
in  what  manner,  it  is  indebted  to 
you  for  the  antique  treasure  of  which 
the  following  pages  treat. 

When  some  of  the  first  discover- 
ed bones  of  the  Mammoth  were, 
eighteen  years  ago,  brought  to  you 
by  Dr.  Brown,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  drawings  from  them,  they 
were  put  into  one  corner  of  your 
picture  gallery,  where  they  fixed 
the   astonishment  of  every  visitor, 


IV 


and  daily  served  to  confirm  your 
intention  of  procuring,  if  possible, 
an  entire  skeleton.  This  your  per- 
severing zeal  has  at  length  accom- 
plished :  but  a  more  extensive  be- 
nefit was  likewise  the  consequence ; 
and  the  Museum,  of  which  you  are 
the  founder,  already  rivalling  many 
in  Europe,  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
same  cause,  and  dated  from  the  same 
period.  The  bones  of  the  Mam- 
moth first  produced  the  idea  of  a 
Museum,  which,  after  eighteen  years 
of  rapid  approach  to  maturity,  un- 
der the  unprecedented  exertions  of 
an  individual,  has  in  its  turn  enabled 
you  to  place  among  its  treasures 
nearly  a  perfect  skeleton  of  the 
Mammoth — the  first  of  American 
animals,    in   the   first  of  American 


Museums.  The  world  will,  there- 
fore, join  with  me  in  saying,  that  the 

most  complete  account  of  the  ani- 
mal you  were  the  means  of  disco- 
vering for  them,  should  be  inscribed 
to  you,  as  a  feeble  effort  to  do  jus- 
tice to  your  meritorious  zeal  for 
science,  and  as  an  assurance  of  the 
gratitude  of 

Your  affectionate  Son, 

Rembrandt  Peak, 

London,  July  i8,    1803. 


AD  VERTlSEMEm. 


IN  the  account  of  the  Mammoth,  published 
in  October  last,  the  first  crude  ideas  from  an  im- 
perfect examination  ivere hastily  given  :  subsequent 
investigation  has  discovered  many  interesting  cir~ 
cumstances,  which  are  here  detailed-,  and  some 
passages  which  were  7iot  sufiiciently  explicit,  have 
been  more  jully  explained.  Instead,  therefore,  of 
re-publishi?ig  it  as  a  second  edition,  which  has  been 
long  called  for,  it  was  preferred  to  give  it  a  more 
methodical,  satisfactory,  and  enlarged  form,  only 
adopting  such  passages  as  suited  the  present  purpose^ 
(instead  of  the  affectation  of  giving  them  a  new 
dress,)  and  dwelling  upon  those  parts  of  the  subject 
which  were  but  slightly  noticed  in  the  former  pub- 
lication. 


Innocent  pursuits,  it  should  not  rank  low  in 
the  scale  of  benefits. 

From  an  examination  of  the  various  strata, 
as  discovered  in  mines  or  exposed  in  cliffs,  we 
have  been  taught  that  the  surface  of  the  earth 
has  at  times  been  violently  agitated,  and  that 
there  have  been  intervals  of  rest,  in  which  the 
growth  of  animal,  vegetable  and  mineral  sub- 
stances has  regularly  proceeded :  but  however 
rugged  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  broken  its 
strata,  very  few  determinate  ideas  could  be 
formed,  were  they  not  accompanied,  as  they  are, 
with  the  remains  of  organized  substances. 

The  celebrated  Cuvier,  in  his  Memoir  on 
Fossil  Bones,  thus  commences  his  observa^ 
tions  :  "It  is  now  universally  known  that  the 
globe  which  we  inhabit,  on  every  side  presents^ 
irresistible  proofs  of  the  greatest  revolutions: 
the  varied  productions  of  living  nature,  which 
embellish  the  surface,  is  but  a  garment  cover- 
ing the  ruins  of  an  antecedent  state  of  na- 
ture. Whether  we  turn  up  the  plains,  whe- 
ther we  penetrate  the  cavernous  mountain s> 
or  climb  their  broken  sides,  the  remnants  of 

3 


organized  bodies  are  every  where  found,  b\i^ 
ried  in  the  various  strata  ^vhich  form  the  ex* 
ternal  crust  of  this  globe.  Immense  collec- 
tions of  shells  lie  buried  far  from  any  sea,  and 
at  heights  inaccessible  to  its  waves  :  fishes  are 
found  in  veins  of  tjlate,  and  vegetable  impres- 
sions at  heights  and  depths  equally  astonish* 
ing.  But  what  is  tftost  surprising  is  the 
disorder  which  retgrts  in  their  relative  posi^ 
tions  5  here,  a  stratum  of  shells  covers  another 
of  vegetables  j  there,  fishes  are  found  over 
terrestrial  animals,  which  in.  their  turn  ar6 
placed  over  plants  or  shells.  Torrents  oflav^ 
and  pumice,  produced  from  subterranean 
fires,  are  mixed  v/nh  the  products  of  the 
ocean  :  these  fossils  are  almost  always  foreign 
to  the  soil  v/hich  hides  them;  it  is  in  the 
equator  we  mud  look  for  recent  shells  and 
fishes  analogous  to  those  which  are  found  fos- 
sil in  the  north,  and  "uice  vetfd.  In  short, 
although  nature  has  thus  embellished  the 
actual  residence  of  living  beings,  although  so 
much  care  is  shewn  in  their  preservation  and 
happiness,  she  seems  equally  pleased  with 
exhibiting  the  monuments  of  her  power  in 
this  disorder  and  apparent  confusion-^all  evi- 

B  2 


dent  proofs  of  the  total  overthrow  which 
must  have  preceded  the  present  order  of  the 
universe. 

"  These  traces  of  desolation  have  always 
acted  on  the  human  mind ;  the  traditions  of 
deluges,  preserved  among  almost  every  people, 
are  derived  from  these  marine  productions 
thus  scattered  over  the  earth.  Those  not  less 
universal  ideas  of  giants,  are  owing  to  the  dis- 
covery of  larger  bones  than  any  produced  in 
those  climates,  where,  from  time  to  time, 
they  have  been  found."  After  mentioning  the 
spirit  of  investigation,  which  from  these  effects 
has  sought  their  solution  among  wild  and  in- 
consistent theories,  until  a  better  philosophy 
has  determined  to  reject  them  all,  and  establish 
nothing  but  upon  the  immutable  basis  of 
facts — facts  which  are  collecting  from  every 
source  for  mutual  elucidation,  and  already 
more  abundant  than  could  have  been  expected 
when  the  practice  first  was  adopted  j  he  pro- 
ceeds to  state,  that  what  relates  to  the  fossil 
remains  of  quadrupeds  has  been  least  of  all 
attended  to,  although  unquestionably  the 
most  interesting  of  any,  from  the  fewness  of 
their  numbers  and  the  extent  and  accuracy  of 


our  knowledge  of  such  as  are  living ;  whereas, 
with  respect  to  fossil  shells  and  fishes,  who 
can  say  which  among  them  is  not  hid  in  the 
bosom  of  the  ocean  ? 

"  Notwithstanding  these  reasons  in  favour 
of  the  preference  to  be  given  to  the  study  of 
the  fossil  bones  of  quadrupeds,  the  celebrated 
men,  whom  I  have  just  mentioned*,  have 
been  stopped  in  their  reseaches  by  two  kinds 
of  difficulties.  On  one  hand,  these  bones  arc 
more  difficult  to  be  collected  than  any  other 
fossils  ;  rarely  are  they  found  in  good  preser- 
vation ^  the  workmen  who  discover  them  pay 
little  attention  to  them,  frequently  suspecting 
them  to  be  no  other  than  the  bones  of  ordi- 
nary men  and  quadrupeds:  often  even  the 
learned  have  overlooked  those  delicate  vari- 
ations which  distinguish  them  from  the  living 
species.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  make  the  proper  comparisons  -, — com* 
parative  anatomy  has  but  just  emerged  from 

*  Woodward,  Whiston,  Leibnitz,  BufFon,  Sloanc,  Messer- 
schmidt,  Daubenton,  Camper,  Blumenbach,  Hunter,  Rofe- 
miiller,  Faujas. 


6 


infancy,  and  in  all  Europe  there  are  scarcely 
more  than  two  or  three  places  where  every 
object  may  be  found  necessary  to  such  an  exact 
comparison. 

*^  It  is  to  these  two  causes  we  must  attri- 
bute the  little  knowledge  we  possess  on  this 
subject,  and  the  errors  which  reign  even  in  the 
most  esteemed  works." 

In  this  interesting  memoir  of  M.  Cuvier, 
whose  researches  into  this  subject  have  been 
indefatigable  and  profound,  there  are  men- 
tioned no  less  than  twenty-three  different 
species  of  animals  which  are  now  extnict,  but 
whose  existence  in  former  ages  is  attested  by 
their  fossil  remains ;  no  recent  production  of 
the  sort  having  ever  been  authenticated.  The 
first  on  this  list  is  that  animal  whose  tusks  af- 
ford the  fossil  ivory  so  common  in  Siberia, 
which  was  generally  supposed  to  be  the  same 
as  the  elephant  of  Asia,  but  which  he  has 
proved,  in  another  memoir,  not  only  to  have 
surpassed  it  in  size,  but  to  have  differed  from  it 
very  considerably,  although  certainly  a  species 


of  the  same  genus :  similar  remains  have  been 
found  in  various  parts  of  Europe  and  Asia  *, 

"  The  second  of  these  species  is  that  to 
which  the  English,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
United  States,  have  transferred  the  name  of 
Mammoth,  v^hich  properly  belongs  to  the 
first,  It  is  equally  large,  but  its  enormous 
teeth,  armed  with  conic  processes,  give  to  it 
a  peculiar  character.  Great  quantities  of 
these  are  found  on  the  borders  of  tlie  Ohio, 
to  the  west  of  the  United  States,  whence  al- 
most every  cabinet  in  Europe  and  America  has 
been  supplied." 

It  appears  that  about  the  year  1740,  great 
numbers  of  bones,  of  this  kind,  were  found  in 
Kentucky,  either  washed  from  the  banks  of 
the  Ohio,,  or  dug  up  in  its  neighbourhood  > 

*  It  is  not  so  generally  known  as  it  should  be,  that  bones 
and  teeth,  similar  to  such  as  are  found  in  Siberia,  have  been 
discovered  in  several  parts  of  England.  Mr.  Wansey,  of 
Salisbury,  sent  for  my  inspection  some  which  were  dug  in 
Salisbury  Plains  ;  others  have  been  found  in  the  Isle  of  Dogs-i 
some  near  Bristol,  &c.  These  fossil  remains  deserve  more 
attention  than  they  have  hitherto  received ;  but  it  is  hoped  a 
proper  collection  of  them  may  be  formed,  and  tlie  subject 
rightly  investigated. 


8 


but  they  were  collected  with  such  eagerness, 
and  forwarded  to  Europe  so  hastily,  that  it 
shortly  became  impossible  to  distinguish  one 
set  of  bones  from  another,  so  as  to  ascertain 
their  number,  proportion,  and  kind ;  parts  of 
the   same  animal  having  been  scattered  over 
England,  France,    and   Germany,    and  thus 
their  re-union  rendered    next    to  impossible, 
BufFon  *,  speaking  of  one  of  these  thigh-bones 
brought  from  the  Ohio  by  the  way  of  Canada, 
which  he  describes  as  being  the  tenth  of  an 
inch  shorter  than  one  from  Siberia,  and  yet  an 
inch  thicker,  says :  "  This  disproportion  is  so 
great  as  hitherto  to  deceive  me  with  respect  to 
this  bone,  though  it  otherwise  resembles,  both 
in  the  external  figure  and  internal  structure, 
the  femur  of  the  elephant    (he  should  have 
said,  the  femur  found  in  Siberia),  mentioned 
under  the  number  dcdlxxxvii.     The  dif- 
ference in  thickness,  which  appeared  exces- 
sive, seemed  sufficient  to  attribute  this  bone 
to  another   animal    which  must   have  been 
larger   than   the  elephant  j    but  as  no  such 
animal  is  known,  recourse  must  be  had  to  the 

*  Vol.  XI.  page  169,  No.  Mxxxv.  Autre  Femur  d'Elephant, 


pretended  Mammoth,  a  fabulous  animal, 
supposed  to  inhabit  the  regions  of  the  north, 
where  are  frequently  found  bones,  teeth,  and 
tusks  resembling  those  of  the  elephant/' 

This  paragraph  of  Mons.  de  Buffon  has 
given  rise,  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  to 
several  errors.  Inasmuch  as  these  bones  and 
teeth,  which  are  found  in  Siberia,  differ  from 
those  of  the  living  elephants,  they  are  to  be 
taken  as  proofs  of  the  former  existence  of 
another  species  no  longer  known,  having  the 
same  generic  characters,  but  differing  speci- 
fically. We  are  not  compelled  to  adopt  M. 
BufFon's  aversion  to  the  idea  of  any  race  of 
animals  becoming  extinct,  but  we  are  forced 
to  submit  to  concurring  facts  as  the  voice  of 
God — the  bones  exist — the  animals  do  not ! 
The  Russian  peasants,  when  they  were  inter- 
ro2:ated  as  to  the  bones  found  in  Siberia, 
attributed  theii],  in  a  fabulous  manner,  to  the 
Mammoth,  *'  of  whom,  (says  Strahlenburgh) 
they  told  and  believed  the  most  extraordinary 
stories:"  we  must  all,  therefore,  agree  with 
BuffoUj  that  as  these  Siberian  bones  were 
really  elephantine,  the  tales  of  the  Mammoth, 

c 


lO 


as  an  animal  fo  called^  are  entirely  fabulous  5 
the  name  being  a  corruption  from  the  Behomet, 
signifying  an  animal  of  large  size,  and  there- 
fore applied  to  bones  that  were  certainly  of  a 
large  size : — but  when  bones  of  equal  or  su- 
perior magnitude  were  found  on  the  Ohio,  in 
America,  they  were  supposed  to  be  of  the 
same  species,  and  therefore  called  Mammoth,  by 
which  name  they  have  been  known  for  sixty 
years,  and  called  so  by  thousands  who  knew 
not  the  origin  of  the  word.  The  Siberian 
bones  turn  out  to  be  elephantine;  those  of 
America,  particularly  from  the  teetli,  cannot 
be:  therefore,  since  the  animal  was  not  an 
elephant,  naturalists  are  now  agreed  in  the 
propriety  of  distinguishing  it  by  the  name  of 
Mammoth  ;  not  as  a  name  by  which,  when 
living,  it  was  ever  called,  but  as  a  term  well 
appropriated  to  express  its  quality  of  super- 
eminent  magnitude. 

After  reciting  the  account  given  by  Mr. 
Fabry,  who  states  the  place  and  manner  in 
which  Mr.  le  Baron  de  Longueuil,  Mr.  de 
Bienville,  and  Mr.  de  Lignery  (lieutenant  in 
Canada),  found  some  of  these  bones  and  teeth 


II 

on  the  Ohio,  in  1740,  BiifFon  proceeds:  "Mr, 
du  Hamel,  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences, 
•informs  us  that  Mr.  de  Longueuii  had  likewise 
brought,  in  1740,  some  very  large  grinders, 
found  in  Canada,  and  perhaps  with  the  tusk 
and    femur   which  I  shall  mention.      These 
teeth   have  no    characters  in    common  with 
those  of  the  elephant,  but  greatly  resemble  the 
teeth  of  the  hippopotamus,   so  that  there  is 
reason    to   believe  they  may  be  part  of  that 
animal;    for  it  can  never  be  supposed  that 
these  teeth  could  have  been  taken  from  the 
same  head  with  the  tusks,  or  that  it  could  have 
made  part  of  the  same  skeleton  with  the  femur 
above-mentioned:  in  supposing  this,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  suppose  an  unknown   ani- 
mal,  which    had  tusks  similar  to  those  of 
the  elephant,  and  grinders   resembling  those 
of  the  hippopotamus.     (Voyez  les  Memoir es  de 
VAcademie  Roy  ale  des  Sciences^  Annee  1762./' 

Here  M.  de  BufTon,  hovever  unwillingly, 
has  drawn  a  true  picture  of  the  Mammoth, 
with  some  little  variation,  ii:^asmuch  as  the 
tusks  do  resemble  those  of  the  elephant,  except 
in  having  a  greater  curve  and  spiral  twist,  an4 

c  2 


12 

necessarily  a  diflerent  position;  and  as  the 
teeth  do  resemble,  though  greatly  exceeding  in 
size,  those  of  the  hyppopotamus  which  arc 
in  the  back  of  the  jaw,  and  consequently  not 
worn ;  except  that  in  the  latter  there  are  sel- 
dom more  than  three  prongs,  or  blunt-pointed 
protuberances,  on  the  surface,  which  is  after- 
wards worn  down ;  whereas  in  this  animal  the 
large  teeth  have  four  and  five,  and  the  small 
teeth  three  and  four  ridges  of  high  conic  pro- 
cesses, very  differently  arranged  from  those 
of  the  former:  besides  that,  in  the  hippo- 
potamus, the  enamel  which  commences,  as  in 
the  sheep,  upon  the  outside,  likewise  pervades 
the  substance  of  the  tooth,  and  renders 
them,  when  ground  flat  (as  they  always  are  in 
adult  animals)^  efficacious  in  reducing  the  ve- 
getable food;  whereas  in  the  Mammoth 
the  enamel  is  wholly  superficial,  and  the 
tooth  never  wears  flat,  because  it  has  not  the 
grinding  motion. 

Mr.  Collin  son.  Member  of  the  Royal  Socie- 
ty, in  a  letter  on  this  subject  to  M.  BufFon"*^, 

*  Buffon,  Tome  XIII.  Notes  jullificative,  page  224. 


13 

after  describing  the  situation  of  the  salt  lick 
on  the  Ohio,  where  an  amazing  number  of 
bones  of  the  elephant,  as  he  imagined  them  to 
be,  were  found,  together  with  teeth  totally 
unlike  those  of  the  elephant,  concludes  thus  : 
"  But  the  large  teeth  which  I  send  you.  Sir, 
were  found  with  those  tusks  or  defences : 
others  yet  larger  than  these  shew,  nay  de- 
monstrate, that  they  did  not  belong  to  ele- 
phants. How  shall  we  reconcile  this  para- 
dox ?  May  w^e  not  suppose  that  there  existed 
formerly  a  large  animal  with  the  tusks  of  the 
elephant  and  the  grinders  of  the  hippopota- 
mus ?  For  these  large  grinders  are  very  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  the  elephant  j"  (and  sub- 
sequent examination  proves  them  to  be  as 
different  from  those  of  the  hippopotamus.) 
"  Mr.  Croghan  thinks,  from  the  great  number 
of  this  kind  of  teeth,  that  is,  the  tusks  and 
grinders  which  he  saw  in  that  place,  that 
there  had  been  at  least  thirty  of  these  ani- 
mals*: yet  the  elephant  never  was  known  in 

*  The  number  could  only  be  determined  by  the  quantity 
oi  duplicate  bones— there  must  have  been  the  remains  of  se- 
veral of  them  ;  and  it  is  very  certain  that  in  the  same  neigh- 
bourhood the  number  must  have  been  very  great  indeed,  con- 


H 

America,  and  probably  could  not  have  been 
carried   there  from    Asia:    the  impossibility 
that  they  could  have  lived  there,  owing  to  the 
severity  of  the  winters,  and  where,  notwith- 
standing  such  a  quantity  of  their  bones  is 
found,  is  a  paradox  which  v/e  leave  to  your 
eminent  wisdom  to  solve."     This   determina- 
tion  M.   BufFon   gives   us   in   the  following 
terms,   although   in   direct    contradiction   to 
those  passages  in  which  he  labours  to  prove 
that  the  bones  found  in  Siberia  and  America 
were,  in  both  instances,  belonging  to  the  ele- 
phant :  "  Thus  every  thing  leads  us  to  beheve 
that  this  ancient  species,  which  must  be  re- 
garded   as   the  first    and   largest  of  terrestrial 
animals,  has  not  existed  since   the  earliest  times, 
and  is  totally  unknown  to  us :    for  an  animal, 
whose  species  was  larger  than  that  of  an  ele- 

^idering  the  quantities  taken  away  at  various  times,  the  diffi- 
culty of  digging,  and  the  small  extent  of  ground  which  has 
been  examined,  by  those  whose  only  object  is  to  colled  the 
water  for  the  salt  it  contains.  Stupendous  and  powerful  as 
this  animal  was,  could  he  have  been  gregarious  ?  or  may  not 
these  be  the  collected  carcases  of  such  as  have  been  bemired 
in  the  course  of  many  years  ?  or  may  they  not  have  been  thus 
collected  by  the  effect  of  water  ?  Not  knowing  the  form  of 
the  country,  I  pretend  to  form  no  judgment.  R.  p. 


15 

phant,  could  hide  itself  in  no  part  of  the 
earth  so  as  to  remain  unknown  :  besides,  it  is 
evident  from  the  form  of  these  teeth  alone, 
from  their  enamel  and  the  disposition  of  their 
roots,  that  they  bear  no  resemblance  to  the  ca- 
chelots,  or  other  cetaceous  animals,  and  that 
they  really  belonged  to  a  terrestrial  animal, 
whose  species  approached  that  of  the  hippopo- 
tamus more  than  any  other.'* 

In  this  state  of  uncertainty  continued  the 
knowledge  of  these  extraordinary  remains  of 
the  great  American  Incognitum^  as  it  was  fre- 
quently called,  until  a  recent  discovery  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  our  cities,  afforded  us  al- 
most a  complete  idea  of  the  whole  skeleton  ; 
and  the  world  is  now  in  possession  of  tv/o  un- 
disputed skeletons  of  this  animal,  found  in 
such  situations  as  leave  no  room  for  conjec- 
ture ;  each  skeleton  being  dug  up  in  a  sepa- 
rate place,  without  any  intermixture  of  foreirn 
bones,  and  each  bone  exactly  adapted  to  its  cor- 
responding points  of  articulation.  One  of  these 
skeletons  is  erected,  as  a  permanent  speci- 
men, at  my  father's  museum,  in  Philadelphia, 
where  it  will  remain  a  monument,  not  only  of 
I 


i6 


stupendous  creation,  and  some  wonderful  re- 
volution in  nature,  but  of  the  scientific  zeal, 
and  indefatigable  perseverance,  of  a  man  from 
whose  private  exertions  a  museum  has  been 
founded,  surpassed  by  few  in  Europe,  and 
likely  to  become  a  national  establishment,  on 
the  most  liberal  plan.  The  other  skeleton, 
discovered  a  few  miles  distant  from  the  for- 
mer, I  have  brought  with  me  to  Europe, 


NARRATIVE. 


IN  the  spring  of  1 80 1,  receiving  informa- 
tion from  a  scientific  correspondent  in  the 
state  of  New- York,  that  in  the  autumn  of  1799, 
many  bones  of  the  Mam  moth  had  been  found 
in  digging  a  marle-pit  in  the  vicinity  of  Nev^- 
burgh,  which  is  situated  on  the  river  Hudson, 
sixty-seven  miles  from  the  city  of  New- York, 
my  father,  Charles  Wilson  Peale,  immediately 
proceeded  to  the  spot,  and  through  the  po- 
liteness of  Dr.  Graham,  whose  residence  on 
the  banks  of  the  W:iM-kill  enabled  him  to  be 
present  when  most  of  the  bones  were  dug  up, 
received  every  information  with  respect  to 
what  had  been  done,  and  the  most  probable 
means  of  future  success.  The  bones  that  had 
been  found  were  then  in  the  possession  of  the 
farmer  who  discovered  them,  heaped  on  the  floor 
of  his  garret  or  granary,  where  they  were  oc- 
casionally visited  by  the  curious.     These  m^y 

D 


i8 

father  was  fortunate  to  make  a  purchase  of*, 
together  with  the  right  of  digging  up  the  re- 
mainder ;  and,  immediately  packing  them  up, 
sent  them  on  to  Philadelphia.  But  as  the  far- 
mer's fields  were  then  in  grain,  the  enterprize 
of  further  investigation  was  postponed  for  a 
short  time. 

The  whole  of  this  part  of  the  country 
abounding  with  morasses,  solid  enough  for 
cattle  to  walk  over,  containing  peat,  or  turf 
and  shell  marie,  it  is  the  custom  of  the  far- 
mers to  assist  each  other,  in  order  to  obtain 
a  quantity  of  the  marie  for  manure.  Pits 
are  dug  generally  twelve  feet  long  and  five 
feet  wide  at  the  top,  lessening  to  three  feet  at 

*  They  consisted  of  all  the  neck,  most  of  the  vertebrsB  of 
the  back,  and  some  of  the  tail ;  most  of  the  ribs,  in  greater 
part  broken  ;  both  fcapulae  ;  both  humeri,  with  the  radii  and 
ulns ;  one  femur  ;  a  tibia  of  one  leg,  and  a  fibula  of  the  other  ; 
some  large  fragments  of  the  head ;  many  of  the  fore  and  hind 
feet  bones;  the  pelvis  fomewhat  broken;  and  a  large  frag- 
ment, five  feet  long,  of  one  tusk,  about  mid-way.  He 
therefore  was  in  want  of  some  of  the  back  and  tail  bones, 
some  of  the  ribs,  the  under  jaw,  one  whole  tusk  and  part  of 
the  other,  the  breast  bone,  one  thigh,  and  a  tibia  and  fibula, 
and  many  of  the  feet  bones. 


«9 

the  bottom.  The  peat  or  turf  is  thrown  on 
lands  not  immediately  in  use ;  and  the  marie, 
after  mellowing  through  the  winter,  is  in  the 
spring  scattered  over  the  cultivated  fields — the 
most  luxuriant  crops  are  the  consequence.— 
It  was  in  digging  one  of  these,  on  the  farm  of 
John  Masten,  that  one  of  the  men,  thrusting 
his  spade  deeper  than  usual,  struck  what  he 
supposed  to  be  a  log  of  wood,  but  on  cutting 
it  to  ascertain  the  kind,  to  his  astonishment, 
he  found  it  was  a  bone :  it  was  quickly  cleared 
from  the  surrounding  earth,  and  proved  to  be 
that  of  the  thigh,  three  feet  nine  inches  in 
length,  and  eighteen  inches  in  circumference, 
in  the  smallest  part.  The  search  was  con- 
tinued, and  the  same  evening  several  other 
bones  were  discovered.  The  fame  of  it  soon 
spread  through  the  neighbourhood,  and  excited 
a  general  interest  in  the  pursuit:  all  were 
eager,  at  the  expence  of  some  exertions,  to  gra- 
tify their  curiosity  in  seeing  the  ruins  of  an 
animal  so  gigantic,  of  whose  bones  very  few 
among  them  had  ever  heard,  and  over  which 
they  had  so  often  unconsciously  trod.  For 
the  two  succeeding  days  upwards  of  an  hun- 

D   2 


20 

dred  men  were  actively  engaged,  encouraged 
by  several  gentlemen,  chiefly  physicians,  of 
the  neighbourhood,  and  success  the  most  san- 
guine attended  their  labours :  but,  unfortu- 
nately, the  habits  of  the  men  requiring  the 
use  of  spirits,  it  was  afforded  them  in  too  great 
profusion,  and  they  quickly  became  so  impa- 
tient and  unruly,  that  they  had  nearly  destroy- 
ed the  skeleton  ^  and,  in  one  or  two  instances, 
usnig  oxen  and  chains  to  drag  them  from  the 
clay  and  marie,  the  head,  hips,  and  tusks 
were  much  broken  j  some  parts  being  drawn 
out,  and  others  left  behind.  So  great  a  quan- 
tity of  water,  from  copious  springs,  bursting 
from  the  bottom,  rose  upon  the  men,  that  it 
required  several  score  of  hands  to  lade  it  out 
with  all  the  milk-pails,  buckets,  and  bowls, 
they  could  collect  in  the  neighbourhood.  All 
their  ingenuity  was  exerted  to  conquer  diffi- 
culties that  every  hour  increased  upon  their 
hands :  they  even  made  and  sunk  a  large  cof- 
ferdam, and  within  it  found  many  valuable 
fmall  bones.  The  fourth  day  so  much  water 
had  risen  in  the  pit,  that  they  had  not  courage 
to  attack  it  again.  In  this  state  we  found  it  in 
1801.  9, 


21 


It  was  a  curious  circumstance  attending  the 
purchase  of  these  bones,  that  the  sum  which 
was  paid  for  them  was  little  more  than  one- 
third  of  what  had  been  offered  to  the  farmer  for 
them  by  another,  and  refused  not  long  before. 
This  anecdote  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the 
moralist,  and  I  shall  explain  it.     The  farmer, 
of  German  extraction — and  like  many  others 
in  America,    speaking  the   language   of    his 
fathers  better  than  that  of  his  country — was 
born  on  his  farm  j  he  was  brought  up  to  it  as 
a  business,  and  it  continued  to  be  his  pleasure 
in  old  age  J  not  because  it  was  likely  to  free 
him  from  labour,  but  because  profit,  and  the 
prospect  of  profit,  cheered  him  in  it,  until  the 
end  was  forgotten  in  the  means. — Intent  upon 
manuring  his  lands,  to  increase  its  produc- 
tion (always  laudable)  he  felt  no  interest  in  the 
fossil  shells  contained  in  his  morass  j  and  had 
it  not  been  for  the  men  who  dug  with  him, 
and  those  whose  casual  attention  was  arrested, 
or  who  were  drawn  by  report  to  the  spot,  for 
him  the  bones  might  have  rotted  in  the  hole 
which  discovered  them  :  this  he  confefTed  to 
me  would  have  been  his  conduct,  certain  that 
after  the  surprise  of  the  moment  they  v;ere 


zz 

good  for  nothing  but  to  rot  as  manure.  But 
the  learned  physician,  the  reverend  divine, 
to  whom  he  had  been  accustomed  to  look  up- 
wards, gave  importance  to  the  objects  which 
excited  the  vulgar  stare  of  his  more  inquisitive 
neighbours:  he  therefore  joined  his  exertions 
to  theirs,  to  recover  as  many  of  the  bones  as 
possible.  With  him,  hope  v^as  every  thing; 
with  the  men,  cui-iosity  did  much,  but  rum 
did  more,  and  some  little  was  owing  to  certain 
prospects  which  they  had  of  sharing  in  the 
future  possible  profit.  It  is  possible  he  might 
have  encourag:!d  this  idea ;  his  fear  of  it,  how- 
ever, seems  to  have  given  him  some  uneasi- 
ness ;  for  v/hen  he  was  offered  a  small  sum 
for  the  bones,  it  appeared  too  little  to  divide  ; 
and  when  a  larger  sum,  he  fain  would  have 
engrossed  the  whole  of  it,  or  persuade  himself 
that  the  real  value  might  be  something  greater. 
Ignorant  of  what  had  been  offered  him,  my 
father's  application  was  in  a  critical  moment, 
and  the  farmer  accepted  his  price,  on  condi- 
tion that  he  should  receive  a  new  gun  for  his 
son,  and  new  gowns  for  his  wife  and  daughters, 
with  some  other  articles  of  the  same  class. 
The  farmer  was  glad  they  were  out  of  his 


1  "^ 


granary,  and  that  they  were  in  a  few  days  to 
be  two  hundred  miles  distantj  and  my  father 
was  no  less  pleased  with  the  consciousness, 
and  on  which  every  one  complimented  him, 
that  they  were  in  the  hands  of  one  who  would 
spare  no  exertions  to  make  the  best  use  of 
them.  The  neighbours,  who  had  assisted  the 
farmer  in  this  discovery,  envious  of  his  good 
fortune,  sued  him  for  a  share  in  the  profit ; 
but  they  gained  nothing  more  than  a  dividend 
of  the  costs  J  it  appearing  that  they  had  been 
satisfied  with  the  gratification  of  their  curi- 
osity, and  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  rum, 
and  no  one  to  prove  that  he  had  given  them 
reason  to  hope  for  a  share  in  the  price  of  any 
thing  his  land  might  happen  to  produce. 

Not  willing  to  lose  the  advantage  of  an  un- 
commonly dry  season,  when  the  springs  in  the 
morass  were  low,  we  proceeded  on  the  arduous 
enterprize.  In  New  York  every  article  was 
provided  which  might  be  necessary  in  sur- 
mounting expected  difficulties ;  such  as  a 
pump,  ropes,  pullies,  augers,  &c. ;  boards  and 
plank  wei^e  provided  in   the  neighbourhood^ 


24 

unci  timber  was    in  sufficient  plenty  on   the 
spot. 

Confident  that  nothing  could  be  done  with- 
out having  a  perfect  command  of  the  water, 
the  first  idea  was  to  drain  it  by  a  ditch  ;  but 
the  necessary  distance  of  perhaps  half  a  mile, 
presented  a  length  of  labour  that  appeared  im- 
mense. It  was,  therefore,  resolved  to  throw 
the  water  into  a  natural  bason  about  sixty  feet 
distant,  the  upper  edge  of  which  was  about 
ten  feet  above  the  level  of  the  water.  An  in- 
genious mill-wright  constructed  the  machi- 
neryj  and  after  a  week  of  close  labour,  com- 
pleted a  large  scaffolding  and  a  wheel  twenty 
feet  diameter,  wide  enough  for  three  or  four 
men  to  walk  a-breast  in:  a  rope  round  this 
turned  a  small  spindle,  which  worked  a  chain 
of  buckets  regulated  by  a  floating  cylinder : 
the  water,  thus  raised,  was  emptied  into  a 
trough,  which  conveyed  it  to  the  basons  a 
ship's  pump  assisted,  and  towards  the  latter 
part  of  the  operation,  a  pair  of  half  barrels,  in. 
removing  the  mud.  This  machine  worked  so 
powerfully,  that  in  the  second  day  the  water 


25 

was  lowered  so  much  as  to  enable  them  to  dig, 
and  in  a  few  hours  they  were  rewarded  with 
several  small  bones. 

The  road  which  passed  through  this  farm 
was  a  highway,  and  the  attention  of  every  tra- 
veller was  arrested  by  the  coaches,  waggons, 
chaises,  and  horses,  which  animated  the  road, 
or  were  collected  at  the  entrance  of  the  field  : 
rich  and  poor,  men,  women,  and  children,  all 
flocked  to  see  the  operation ;  and    a    swamp 
always  noted  as    the  solitary  abode  of  fnakes 
and  frogs,  became  the  active  scene  of  curiosity 
and  bustle:   most  of  the  spectators  v/ere  asto- 
nished at  the  purpose  which  could    prompt 
such  vigorous   and  expensive  exertions,  in  a 
manner  so  unprecedented,  and  so  foreign  to 
the   pursuits   for  which  they   v^ere   noted. — 
But  the  amusement  was  not  wholly  on  their 
side;  and  the  variety  of  company    not  only 
amused  us,  but  tended  to  encourage  the  work- 
men, each  of  whom,  before  so  many  spectators, 
was  ambitious  of  signalizing  himself  by  the 
number  of  his  discoveries. 

.  For  several  weeks  no  exertions  were  spared, 

E 


26 

and  the  most  unremitting  were  required  to 
insure  success :  bank  after  bank  fell  in  ;  the 
increase  of  water  was  a  constant  impediment, 
the  extreme  coldness  of  which  benumbed  the 
workmen.  Each  day  required  some  new  ex- 
pedient, and  the  carpenter  was  always  making 
additions  to  the  machinery :  every  day  bones 
and  pieces  of  bones  were  found  between  six 
and  seven  feet  deep,  but  none  of  the  most  im- 
portant ones.  But  the  greatest  obstacle  to 
the  search  was  occasioned  by  the  shell  marie 
which  formed  the  lower  stratum ;  this,  ren- 
dered thin  by  the  springs  at  the  bottom,  was, 
by  the  weight  of  the  whole  morass,  always 
pressed  upwards  on  the  workmen  to  a  certain 
height  J  which,  without  an  incalculable  ex- 
pence,  it  was  impossible  to  prevent.  Twenty- 
five  hands  at  high  vv^ages  v/ere  almost  constantly 
employed  at  work  which  was  so  uncomfortable 
and  severe,  that  nothing  but  their  anxiety  to 
see  the  head,  and  particularly  the  under  jaw, 
could  have  kept  up  their  resolution.  The  pa- 
tience of  employer  and  workmen  was  at  length 
exhausted,  and  the  work  relinquished  without 
obtaining  those  interesting  parts,  the  want  of 
v/hich  rendered  it  impoowible  to  form  a  com- 
plete skeleton. 


It  would  not  have  been  a  very  difficult  mat 
ter  to  put  these  bones  together,  and  they 
would  have  presented  the  general  appearance 
of  the  skeleton  J  but  the  under  jaw  was  broken 
to  pieces  in  the  first  attempt  to  get  out  the 
bones,  and  nothing  but  the  teeth  and  a  few 
fragments  of  it  were  now  found  3  the  tail  was 
mostly  wanting,  and  some  toe-bones.  It  was, 
therefore,  a  desirable  object,  not  only  to  pro- 
cure some  knowledge  of  these  deficient  parts, 
but  if  possible  to  find  some  other  skeleton  in 
such  order  as  to  see  the  position,  and  correctly 
to  ascertain  the  number  of  the  bones.  In  the 
course  of  eighteen  years  there  had  been  found 
within  twelve  miles  of  this  spot,  a  bone  or  two 
in  seven  different  places :  concerning  these  we 
made  particular  inquiries,  but  found  that  most 
of  the  morasses  had  been  since  drained,  and  con- 
sequently either  the  bones  had  been  exposed  to 
a  certain  decay  j  or  else  so  deep,  that  a  fortune 
might  have  been  spent  in  the  fruitless  pursuit. 
But  through  the  polite  attention  of  Dr.Galatian, 
we  were  induced  to  examine  a  small  morass, 
eleven  miles  distant  from  the  former,  belonging 
to  Capt.  J.  Barber,  where,  eight  years  before, 
four  ribs  had  been    found  in  digging   a  pit. 

E  2 


28 

From  the  description  which  was  given  of  their 
position,  and  the  appearance  of  the  morass, 
we  began  our  operations  with  all  the  vigour  a 
certainty  of  success  could  inspire.  Nearly  a 
week  was  consumed  in  making  a  ditch,  by 
which  all  the  water  was  carried  off,  except 
what  a  hand  pump  could  occasionally  empty  : 
the  digging,  therefore,  was  less  difficult  than 
that  at  Masten's,  though  still  tedious  and  un- 
pleasant ;  particularly  as  the  sun,  unclouded 
as  it  had  been  for  seven  weeks,  poured  its 
scorching  rays  on  the  morass,  so  circumscribed 
with  trees,  that  the  western  breeze  afforded  no 
refreshment:  yet  nothing  could  exceed  the  ar- 
dour of  the  men,  particularly  of  one,  a  gigantic 
and  athletic  negro,  who  exulted  in  the  most 
laborious  choice,  although  he  seemed  melting 
with  the  heat.  Almost  an  entire  set  of  ribs 
were  found,  lying  pretty  much  together,  and 
very  entire  3  but  as  none  of  the  back  bones 
were  found  near  them  (a  sufficient  proof  of 
their  having  been  scattered,)  our  latitude 
for  search  was  extended  to  very  uncertain 
limits :  therefore,  after  working  about  two 
weeks,  and  finding  nothing  belonging  to  the 
head  but  two   rotten  tusks  (part  of  one  of 


-     29 

them  is  with  the  skeleton  here),  three  or  four 
small  grinders,  a  few  vertebrae  of  the  back  and 
tail,  a  broken  scapula,  some  toe-bones,  and 
the  ribs,  found  between  four  and  seven  feet 
deep-T-a  reluctant  terminating  pause  ensued. 

These  bones  were  kept  distinct  from  those 
found  at  Masten's,  as  it  would  not  be  proper 
to  incorporate  into  one  skeleton  any  other  than 
the  bones  belonging  to  it ;  and  nothing  more 
was  intended  than  to  collate  the  corresponding 
parts.  These  bones  were  chiefly  valuable  as 
specimens  of  the  individual  parts  j  but  no  bone 
was  found  among  them  which  was  deficient  in 
the  former  collection,  and  therefore  our  chief 
object  was  defeated.  To  have  failed  in  so 
small  a  morass  was  rather  discouraging;  to  the 
idea  of  making  another  attempt;  and  yet  the 
smallness  of  the  m.orass  was  probably  the  cause 
of  our  failure,  as  it  was  extremely  probable 
the  bones  we  could  not  find  were  long  since 
decayed,  from  being  situated  on  the  rising 
slope  at  no  considerable  depth,  unprotected 
by  the  shell  marie,  which  lay  only  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  bason  forming  the  morass.  When 
every  exertion  was  given  over,  \yc  could  not 
but  look  at  the  surrounding  unexplored  parts 


5^ 


with  some  concern,  uncertain  how  near  we 
might  have  been  to  the  discovery  of  all  that 
we  wanted,  and  regretting  the  probabiUty  that, 
in  consequence  of  the  drain  we  had  made,  a 
few  years  would  wholly  destroy  the  venerable 
objects  of  our  research. 

Almost  in  despair  at  our  failure  in  the 
last  place,  where  so  much  was  expected, 
it  was  with  very  little  spirit  we  mounted 
our  horses  on  another  enquiry.  Crossing 
the  Walkiil  at  the  falls,  we  ascended  over 
a  double  swelling  hill  into  a  rudely  cul- 
tivated country,  about  twenty  miles  west 
from  the  Hudson,  where,  in  a  thinly  settled 
neighbourhood,  lived  the  honest  farmer  Peter 
Millspav/,  who,  three  years  before,  had  dis- 
covered several  bones  :  from  his  log  hut, 
he  accompanied  us  to  the  morass. — It  was 
impossible  to  resist  the  solemnity  of  thj; 
approach  to  this  venerable  spot,  vv^hich  was 
surrounded  by  a  fence  of  safety  to  the  cat- 
tle without.  Here  we  fastened  our  horfes, 
and  followed  our  guide  into  the  center  of 
the  m.orass,  or  rather  marshy  forest,  where 
every  step  was  taken  on  rotten  timber  and 
the  spreading  roots  of  tall  trees,  the  luxuri- 


3« 

ant  growth  of  a  few  years,  half  of  which 
were  tottenng  over  our  heads.  Breathless 
silence  had  here  taken  her  reign  amid  un- 
healthy fogs,  and  nothing  was  heard  but 
the  fearful  crash  of  fome  mouldering  branch 
or  towering  beach.  It  was  almost  a  dead 
level,  and  the  holes  dug  for  the  purpofe  of 
manure,  out  of  which  a  few  bones  had  been 
taken  six  or  seven  years  before,  were  full  of 
water,  and  connected  with  others  containing 
a  vast  quantity  j  so  that  to  empty  one  was  to 
empty  them  all  5  yet  a  last  effort  might  be 
crowned  with  success ;  and,  since  so  many  dif- 
ficulties haJ  been  conquered,  it  was  refolved 
to  embrace  the  only  opportunity  that  now  of- 
fered for  any  farther  discovery.  Machinery 
was  accordingly  erected,  pumps  and  buckets 
were  employed,  and  a  long  course  of  troughs 
conducted  the  water,  among  the  distant  roots, 
to  a  fall  of  a  few  inches ;  by  which  tlie  men 
were  enabled,  unmolested,  except  by  the  caving 
in  of  the  banks,  to  dig  on  every  fide  from  the 
spot  where  the  first  discovery  of  the  bones 
had  been  made. 

Here  alternate  success  and  dissapointment 


32         -      ' 

amused  and  fatigued  us  for  a  long  while  j  un- 
til  with   empty  pockets,     low    spirits,     and 
languid  workmen,  we  were  about  to  quit  the 
morass  with  but  a  small  collection,  though 
in   good    preservation,    of  ribs,  toe  and   leg 
bones,  &c.     In  the   meanwhile,  to  leave  no 
means  untried,  the  ground  was   searched   in 
various  directions  with  long-pointed  rods  and 
cross  handles :  after  some  practice,  we  were 
able  to  distinguish  by  the  feel  whatever  sub- 
stances we  touched  harder  than  the  soili  and 
by  this  means,  in  a  very  unexpected  direction, 
though  not  more  than  twenty  feet  from  the 
first  bones  that  were  discovered,  struck  upon 
a  large  collection  of  bones,  which  were  dug 
to  and  taken  up    with   every  possible    care. 
They  proved  to  be  a  humerus,  or  large  bone 
of  the  right  leg,  v/ith  the  radius  and  ulna  of 
the  left,  the  right  scapula,  the  atlas,  several 
toe-bones,  and,  the  great  object  of  our  pur*- 
suit,  a  complete  under  jaw  ! 

After  such  a  variety  of  labour  and  length  of 
fruitless  expectation,  this  success  was  ex- 
tremely grateful  to  all  parties,  and  the  un- 
conscious woods  echoed  with  repeated  huzzas, 


33 

which  could  not  have  been  more  animated  if 
every  tree  had  participated  in  the  joy.  "  Gra- 
cious God,  what  a  jaw !  how  many  animals 
have  been  crushed  between  it !"  was  the  ex- 
clamation of  all :  a  fresh  supply  of  grog  went 
round,  and  the  hearty  fellows,  covered  with 
mud,  continued  the  search  with  encreafing 
vigour.  The  upper  part  of  the  head  was 
found  twelve  feet  distant,  but  so  extremely 
rotten  that  we  could  only  preserve  the  teeth 
and  a  few  fragments.  In  its  form  it  exactly 
resembled  the  head  found  at  Masten's  j  but,  as 
that  was  much  injured  by  rough  usage,  this, 
from  its  small  depth  beneath  the  surface,  had 
the  cranium  so  rotted  away  as  only  to  shew 
the  form  around  the  teeth,  and  thence  extend- 
ing to  the  condyles  of  the  neck  -,  the  rotten 
bone  formed  a  black  and  greasy  mould  above 
that  part  which  was  still  entire,  yet  so  tender 
as  to  break  to  pieces  on  lifting  it  from  its 
bed. 

This  collection  was  rendered  still  more  com- 
plete by  the  addition  of  those  formerly  taken 
up,  and  presented  to  us  by  Drs.  Graham  and 
Post,    They  were  a  rib,  the  sternum,  a  femur, 

F 


34 

tibia  and  fibula,  and  a  patella  or  knee-panJ 
One  of  the  ribs  had  found  its  way  into  an  ob- 
scure farm-house,  ten  miles  distant,  to  which 
we  fortunately  traced  it. 

Thus  terminated  this  strange  and  laborious 
campaign  of  three  months,  during  which  we 
Were  wonderfully  favoured,  although  vegeta- 
tion suffered,  by  the  driest  season  which  had 
occurred  within  eight  years.  Our  venerable 
relics  were  carefully  packed  up  in  distinct 
cases ;  and,  loading  two  waggons  with  them, 
we  bade  adieu  to  the  vallies  and  stupendous 
mountains  of  Shawangunk :  so  called  by  their 
former  inhabitants,  the  Indians  of  the  Dela- 
ware tribe.  The  three  sets  of  bones  were 
kept  distinct :  with  the  two  collections  which 
were  most  numerous,  it  was  intended  to  form 
two  skeletons,  by  still  keeping  them  separate, 
and  filling  up  the  deficiencies  in  each  by  arti- 
ficial imitations  from  the  other,  and  from 
counterparts  in  themselves.  For  inflance,  in 
order  to  complete  the  first  skeleton,  which  was 
found  at  Masten's,  the  under  jaw  was  to  be 
modelled  from  this,  which  is  the  only  intire 
one  that  has  yet  been  discovered,  although  we 


35 

have  seen  considerable  fragments  of  at  leaft 
ten  different  jaws  :  while  on  the  other  hand, 
in  the  skeleton  just  discovered  at  Barber's,  the 
upper  jaw,  which  was  found  in  the  extreme  of 
decay,  was  to  be  completed,    so  far  as  it  goes, 
from  the  more  solid  fragment  of  the  head  be- 
longing to  the  skeleton  found  at  Masten's. 
Several  feet-bones  in  this  skeleton  were  to  be 
made  from  that ;    and  a  few  in  that  were  to 
be  made  from  this.  In  this  the  right  humerus 
being  real,  the  imitation  for  the  left  one  could 
be  made  with  the  utmoft  certainty  j    and  the 
radius  and  ulna   of  the  left  leg  being  real, 
those  on  the  right  side  would  follow  in  course, 
&c.     The  collection  of  ribs  in  both  cases  was 
pretty    intire  j     therefore,    having  discovered 
from  a  correspondence  between  the  number  of 
vertebrae  and  ribs  in  both  animals,  that  there 
were  nineteen  pair  of  the  latter,  it  y^as  neces- 
sary in  only  four  or  five  instances  to  supply 
the  counterparts,  hy  correct  models  from  the 
real  bones.     In  this  manner  the  two  skeletons 
were  formed,  and  are  in  both  instances  com- 
posed of  the  appropriate  bones  of  the  animal, 
or  exact  imitations  from  the  real  bones  in  the 
same  skeleton,  or  from  those  of  the  same  pro- 

F   2 


36 

portion  in  the  other.  Nothing  in  either  skele- 
ton is  imaginary ;  and  what  Vv^e  have  not  un^ 
questionable  authority  for  we  leave  deficient, 
which  happens  in,-  only  two  instances,  thq 
summit  of  the  head,  and  the  fWof  the  tail. 


COMPARATIVE  DESCRIPTION. 


THE  skeleton  of  the  Mammoth,  as  it  is 
first  hastily  glanced  at,  impresses  the  idea  of 
the  elephant,  to  which,  in  its  general  contour 
it  hears  some  resemblance;  yet,  on  a  closer 
examination,  even  the  general  figure  is  found 
to  vary  considerably ;  and  a  closer  inspection 
will  shew  that  many  of  the  bones  differ  in  a  most 
extraordinary  manner.  The  supposition  which 
necessarily  accompanies  this^rj^  impression  is, 
that  the  habits  and  foodof  the  two  animals  must 
have  been  similar.  This  hasty  mode  of  decision 
is  the  parent  of  prejudice  and  obstinate  error; 
and  nothing  better  can  be  said  of  it,  than  that 
it  is  not  unnatural,  but  such  as  we  should 
expect  from  minds  little  accustomed  to  inves- 
tigation, and  rather  disposed  to  confide  in 
common-place  facts,  than  to  inquire  into  the 
possibility  of  new  ones,  especially  if  they  are 
in  opposition  to  their  prejudices. 

I 


38 

Among  all  the  difFerent  genera  of  quadru- 
peds with  which  we  are  acquainted,  a  more 
striking  dissimilarity  prevails  between  their 
heads  than  any  other  parts ;  and  the  reason  is 
obvious :  members  that  are  to  answer  exactly 
the  same  purpose,  in  difFerent  animals,  never 
differ  3  but  an  appropriate  form  of  bone  always 
accompanies  pecuhar  modes  of  action  and 
habits  of  repose,  which  by  constant  use  are 
more  and  more  confirmed:  hence,  animals 
wholly  difFerent  from  each  other,  except  in  a 
few  instances,  are  more  immediately  distin- 
guished by  the  heads  than  any  other  part ;  not 
only*  because  their  forms  are  more  decidedly 
pecuhar,  but  because  the  inexperienced  eye 
can  better  remark  them  than  such  as  may  exist 
in  other  bones  which  are  of  more  difficult  com- 
parison, and  more  multiform  in  their  parts : 
for  to  judge  correctly  in  osteological  compari- 
sons requires  not  so  much  the  knowledge  of 
the  anatomist  as  the  eye  of  the  artist : — and 
I  maintain  it  as  a  fact,  in  which  every  candid 
anatomist  and  every  artist  will  join  with  me, 
that  the  mere  artist,  by  a  little  attention  to 
the  variations  of  form,  will  sooner,  and  with 
more  certainty,  establish  the    characters    of 


39 

skeletons,  than  the  most  learned  anatomist, 
whose  eye  has  not  been  accustomed  in  an  in- 
stant to  seize  on  every  peculiarity :  the  slow 
anatomist  may  be  sure,  but  unless  he  devofes^ 
himself  to  the  abstracted  study  of  his  subject, 
he  falls  short  of  correct  information.  It  is, 
therefore,  evident,  that  our  hopes  of  correct 
knowledge  on  this  subject  must  rest  on  those 
in  whom  the  two  characters  are  combined. 
For  my  part,  my  decisions  are  pronounced 
with  no  other  authority  than  that  of  an  artist, 
pretending  to  very  little  more  knowledge  of 
anatomy  than  gives  me  the  names  and  uses  of 
the  bones  -,  but,  when  forms  and  the  right 
comparison  of  lines  and  angles  is  the  subject 
of  investigation,  I  feel  myself,  as  every  artist 
must,  perfectly  confident  in  the  assertion  of 
truth. 

HEAD. 

What  there  remains  of  the  head  is  of  so 
peculiar  a  construction  that  it  must  be  ob- 
vious, to  the  most  inexperienced  eye.  The 
cranium  being  deficient,  there  remains  (besides 
the  under  jaw)  only  that  portion  of  it  wliich  is 


40 

comprised  between  the  condyle  of  the  neck  and 
the  sockets  for  the  tusks,  the  temporal  bone^ 
zygomatic  process,  and  the  teeth :  this,  there- 
fore, compared  with  the  corresponding  por- 
tion of  the  elephant's  head  *,  taking  the  level 
of  the  teeth  in  both  as  a  base  line  from  which 
to  measure,  will  be  found  com.paratively  much 
longer  for  its  height  -f-.  In  the  Mammoth  J  the 
sockets  of  the  tusks  at  A.  to  the  condyle  of 
the  neck  B.  is  nearly  a  horizontal  line  ;  in  the 
Elephant,  a  line  between  the  same  parts,  forms 
with  the  horizon,  an  angle  of  nearly  45  de- 
grees. In  the  Mammoth,  a  line  from  the 
zygomatic  process  at  C.  to  the  condyle  of  the 
neck  B.  descejids  as  much  as  it  rises  in  the  Ele- 
phant, producing  a  difference  comprised  within 
an  angle  of  45  degrees.  In  the  Mammoth,  the 
condyle  of  the  neck  is  situated  very  nearly 
upon  a  line  with  the  level  of  the  teeth  :  in  the 
Elephant  it  is  as  much  above  the  teeth  as  it  is 
distant  from  the  frontal  bone;  consequently 
the  ear  of  the  Mammoth  is  very  little  above 
the  horizontal  line  of  the  teeth,  and  in  the 

*  See  the  plate,  figure  I. 

t  Tills  proportion  is  taken  notice  of  by  Camper,  in  his  late 
folio  work  on  the  anatomy  of  the  elephant,  page  24. 
X  Figure  II. 


4t 

Elephant  there  is  a  vast  distance  between 
them*  In  the  Elephant,  as  in  most  other 
quadrupeds,  the  socket  of  the  eye  is,  as  it 
were,  scooped  out  of  the  zygomatic  process 
at  C.  J  in  the  Mammoth  that  portion  of  the 
bone  at  C.  is  sufficiently  perfect  to  shew  that 
there  is  no  such  socket :  the  eye  of  the  Mam- 
moth, therefore,  must  have  been  higher  than 
the  ear ;  in  the  Elephant  it  is  lower  than  the 
ear.  One  consequence  of  this  uncommon 
situation  of  the  teeth  below  the  condyle  of  the 
neck  in  the  Elephant,  is,  that  the  arms  of 
the  under  jaw  to  the  condyloid  processes  are 
extremely  long,  insomuch,  that  the  height  of 
the  jaw  is  equal  to  the  length  3  whereas  in  the 
Mammoth  it  has  the  more  usual  appearance  of 
length,  with  but  short  processes,  the  coronoid 
being  longer  and  thinner  than  the  condyloid  ; 
but  in  the  Elephant  the  reverse  is  the  case  : 
the  general  form  of  the  under  jaw  of  this  ani- 
mal is  made  up  of  three  distinct  angles ;  one 
horizontal,  on  which  the  jaw  rests  (when 
placed  on  a  table),  from  the  front  to  the  back, 
where  a  small  corner  appears  cut  off,  whence 
it  rises  perpendicularly  to  the  condyle.  The 
same  view  of  the  Elephant's  jaw  exhibits  very 

G 


42 

nearly  a  regular  portion  of  a  circle  without 
any  angles.  In  the  Mammoth,  what  is  called 
the  semi-lunar  notch  from  the  condyloid  to  the 
coronoid  processes,  is  very  strongly  marked ; 
but  in  the  Elephant  no  such  notch  exists. 
In  the  Mammoth  the  bone  from  E.  to  a.  is 
extremely  thin  and  rugged  j  in  the  Elephant 
it  is  smooth,  and  being  semi-cylindrical  (as 
well  as  circular)  is  unusually  bulky,  and  well 
adapted  to  the  peculiar  formation  of  the  Ele- 
phant's teethe  In  the  Elephant  the  under  jaw 
terminates  in  a  grooved  point,  directed  down- 
wards(D.);  the  corresponding  part  in  the  Mam- 
moth has  a  most  extraordinary  roughness,  com- 
posed of  foliated  or  thin  irregularly  involuted 
processes,  indicating  some  unusual  and  im- 
mense appendage, — This  part,  in  some  degree, 
resembles  the  Walrus.  And  lastly,  in  the 
under  jaw  of  the  Elephant,  the  opposite  grind- 
ers, which  in  the  back  of  the  jaw  are  very  distant 
from  each  other,  approach  towards  an  open  in 
the  front ;  whereas  in  the  Mammoth  they  are 
completely  parallel  with  each  other.  These  va- 
riations produce  a  very  different  outline  in  the 
opening  between  the  teeth,  as  you  look  at  the 
jaws  in  front:  in  the  Mammoth,  it  is  a  portion 


4S 

of  a  circle ;  in  the  Elephant  it  accords  with  the 
figure  of  a  pear.  Glancing  rapidly  from  one 
head  to  the  other,  the  eye  will  readily  notice 
other  pecuharities,  which  are  not  of  sufficient 
importance  particularly  to  mention  here. 


TEETH. 

From  their  size,  structure,  and  mechani- 
cal action,  the  teeth  are  much  the  most  inte- 
resting part  to  the  anatomist.  From  their 
uncommon  size,  there  are  but  few  of  them  -, 
(eight  being  sufficient  to  fill  the  jaws  j)  two 
large  ones  in  the  back,  and  two  small  ones  in 
the  front  of  each  jaw :  the  large  teeth  have 
Jour  obliquely  trajisverse  conic  ridges ov  processes; 
the  small  ones  three  with  the  same  characters, 
so  disposed  as  to  interlock  with  each  other,  in 
the  manner  of  a  crimping-machine,  only  all 
at  once,  with  an  irresistible  power.  These 
conic  processes  are  covered  with  i  thick  coat 
of  enamel,  wholly  superjicialy  reaching  down  on 
every  side  to  the  alveolar  processes,  in  the 
manner  of  all  carnivorous  animals.  There  is 
a  section  of  one  in  the  British  Museum,  which 

G  2 


44 

shews  that  the  enamel  does  not,  in  the  slight- 
est degree,  pervade  the  tooth,  as  it  does  in  the 
Elephant.  The  teeth  of  the  Asiatic  Elephant 
are  composed  of  numerous  perpendicular  plates 
of  enamel,  so  connected  by  pairs  at  the  sides, 
as  to  form  to  appearance  on  the  surface,  long 
flattened  ovals  j  and,  in  fact,  they  are  united 
at  bottom  as  well  as  originally  at  the  surface, 
which  is  quickly  worn  off,  and  which  then  dis- 
closes an  ivory  of  close  texture,  and  different 
formation  from  that  which  separates  from  each 
other  these  flattened  ovals  of  enamel.  The  teeth 
of  the  African  differ  from  those  of  the  Asiatic 
Elephant  in  having  fewer  portions  of  thicker 
enamel,  which  do  not  run  parallel  with  each 
other  in  plates,  but  are  so  disposed  that,  on 
the  surface  of  the  tooth,  or  a  horizontal  sec- 
tion of  it,  the  ivory  enclosed  within  the  ena- 
mel resembles  a  cross,  consequently  the  teeth 
are  better  adapted  to  coarser  vegetables  and 
greater  rotatory  motion  ^, 

I  have  seen  some  teeth  of  the  Mammoth 
with  the  summits  of  their  enamel-capped  pro- 

*  See  the  plate,  figure  III.  and  IV. 


45 

cesses  so  worn  off  as  to  present,  to  those ^r^- 
disposed  to  adopt  the  idea,  some  resemblance,  in 
the-superficial  linesy  to  the  teeth  of  the  African 
Elephant ;  but  no  one  could  look  with  any  de- 
gree of  attention  at  any  tooth  of  this  animal, 
without  discovering  that  the  enamel  absolutely 
covers  the  whole  upper  surface^  except  where 
it  is  worn  off  *,  and  that  it  never  penetrates 
to  the  interior  of  the  tooth  -f*. 

*  The  enamel  in  the  Elephant's  teeth  never  wears  ciF,  it 
only  wears  down. 

f  This  incorrect  observation,  of  some  teeth  of  the  Mam- 
moth, has  induced  several  anatomists  to  class  this  animal  as 
a  species  of  Elephant,  more  analagous   to  the  African  than 
the  Asiatic.     Any  conclusions  from  so  false  an  observation 
would  be  of  no  consequence,  if  they  were  not  given  by  some 
of  the  first  characters.     Among  others,  Camper,  in  his 
elegant  work  on  the   anatomy  of  the  Elephant,  page  24, 
when  he  speaks  of  the   fossil  bones  from  the  Ohio,  which, 
on  the  authority  (in  this  instance  incorrect)  of  the  celebrated 
CuviER,  he  classes  as  a  fourth  species  of  Elephant,  says 
thus: — "  4.  The  American  Elephant  (so  called  by  .Pennant) 
with  bones  considerably  more  bulky  than  the  former  (mean- 
ing the  Siberean  bones),  with  a  lengthened  and  prodigiously 
heavy  head  and  long  tusks :  his  grinders,  more  numerous,  are 
composed  of  three  or  four  plates  (plaques)  first  crowned  with 
tubercles,  and  then  marked  with  a   double  leaf  of  clover 
(marquees  d^une  double  femlle  de  trejle).     This  prolongation 


4^  ^ 

It  is  evident  from  the  structure  and  position 
of  these  teeth,  that  they  never  could  have  been 
used  in  grinding  vegetables,  but  in  crushing 
or  champing  some  hard  and  brittle  substances, 
such  as  shell-fish,  &c.  There  are  three  facts 
to  prove  that  they  did  not  grind  the  food : 
I  St.  the  interlocking  of  the  conic  processes; 
2dly.  their  oblique  direction,  so  that  the  ridges 
or  cavities  on  one  side  of  the  jaw  do  not  run 
parallel  vv^ith  those  on  the  other,  which  most 
effectually  prevents  a  lateral  motion — this 
important  character  has  been  entirely  over- 
looked— and  3dly.  the  condyloid  processes, 
which  are  trajisversely  cblong,  running  perfectly 
parallel  vvith.  each  (as  true  hinges)  and  working 
in  a  groove,  from  which  they  cannot  rotate. 

of  the  jaws,  influencing  the  obliquity  of  the  profile,  must 
have  given  a  singular  reclination  to  the  facial  line,  in  dimi- 
nishing the  relative  height  of  the  vertical  axis  of  the  head.-^ 
This  extinct  species,  as  the  first,  was  more  analagous  to  the 
African  Elephant  than  the  Asiatic." 

On  this  paragraph  I  shall  only  remark,  that  his  imaginary 
plates  do  not  exist  in  the  teeth  ;  and  that  I  know  not  what  he 
means  by  his  '"  double  feuille  de  tr}Jle"  unless  it  is  the  outline 
formed  by  the  worn  edges  of  the  enamel,  as  observed  before ; 
but  that  his  observations  with  respect  to  the  contour  of  the 
head  are  perfectly  correct. 


47 

'  An  uniform  composition  of  tooth,  as  It  re- 
spects the  intermixture  of  enamel  and  bone, 
running  from  the  surface  to  the  roots,  is 
observed  to  prevail  in  those  of  the  Ele- 
phant, Horse,  Ox,  &c.  they  principally  differ 
in  the  figure  which  those  veins  of  enamel 
assume,  and  by  which  alone  they  may  be 
discriminated  from  each  other.  On  the  other 
hand,  carnivorous  teeth,  incrusted  with  ena- 
mel as  far  as  the  gums,  vary  in  the  form  and 
number  of  their  protuberances,  so  as  generally 
to  designate  their  species :  yet  among  them 
there  is  a  proper  distinction  to  be  observed ; 
which  is,  that  those  carnivorous  animals,  the 
form  of  whose  teeth,  and  the  attachment  of 
whose  jaws,  allow  them  the  side  or  grinding 
motion,  are  always  of  the  mixt  kind.  Man, 
the  Monkey,  Hog,  &c.  are  carnivorous  ani- 
mals, because  their  teeth  are  incrusted  vi^ith 
enamel,  and  because  they  eat  flesh ;  yet 
they  are  adapted  for  other  food,  by  the  rota- 
tory motion  of  their  jaws,  and  tlie  form  of 
their  teeth.  And  although  the  Mammoth  is 
deficient  in  cutting  teeth,  and  has  no  other 
canine  teeth  than  his  enormous  tusks  (which 
deficiencies  may  have  been  supplied  by  a  pair 


4^ 

of  large  and  powerful  lips,  indicated  by  the 
uncommon  sinuosity  on  the  front  of  the  lower 
jaw),  yet  I  am  decidedly  of  opinion,  since  it 
cannot  be  contradicted  by  a  single  fact,  that 
the  Mammoth  was  exclusively  carnhorcus ;  by 
which  I  mean,  that  he  made  use  of  no  vege- 
table food,  but  either  lived  entirely  on  fish 
or  flesh,  and  not  improbably  on  shell-fish,  if, 
as  there  are  other  reasons  to  suppose,  he  par- 
took in  any  degree  of  the  amphibious  nature. 

It  has  been  observed  that  these  teeth  resem- 
ble those  of  the  Hyppopotamus ;  but  very  little 
observation  and  comparison,  between  such  of 
them  as  were  but  little  used  and  those  worn 
down  with  age,  would  have  been  sufficient 
to  satisfy  the  weakest  judgment  that  they  are 
of  a  very  different  kind;  those  of  the  Hippo- 
potamus being  alv/ays  in  the  adult  animal 
ground  down  horizontally,  so  as  to  present  a 
flat  surface  to  action,  and  only  the  hindmost 
teeth  in  the  young  and  middle  aged  Hyppo- 
potamus shewing  any  appearance  of  rounded 
protuberances,  wliich,  in  fact,  are  always  of 
an  irregular  figure  and  having  the  enamel, 
although  commencing  on  the  outside  as  in  the 


49 

Sheep,  Goat,  Deer,  &c.  yet  in  such  manner 
entering  into  the  body  of  the  tooth  aS  to  con- 
stitute it,  when  worn  down,  a  perfectly  gra- 
nivorous  tooth ;  for  it  may  be  observed,  that 
the  Sheep,  Goat,  Deer,  and  Hippopotamus, 
in  having  the  edges  of  their  teeth  protected 
by  enamel,  differ  from  those  graminivorous 
animals  (as  the  Horse  and  Ox)  which  do  not 
cut  the  bark  of  trees,  or  feed  upon  reeds. 

Thus  much  is  as  little  as  can  be  said  on  the 
teeth;  not  so  remarkable  even  for  their  size 
as  their  peculiar  construction,  and  mechanical 
action :  there  being  no  animal  known,  v/hose 
teeth  resemble  them. 


TUSKS. 

Although  it  was  extremely  probable,  or 
rather  (as  Hunter  expressed  himself)  there  was 
no  reason  to  doubt  but  that  the  same  animal 
which  owned  the  carnivorous  teeth  likewise 
owned  the  tusks  which  were  found  with  them 
on  the  Ohio,  yet  the  fact  could  there  not  be 
well  ascertained,  because  the  bones  of  several 

H 


■50     • 

-animals  were  intermixed  with  each  other ;  nar 
was  it  satisfactorily  proved  until  the  dis- 
XGvery  of  these  skeletons  in  the  state  of  New- 
York,  in  both  instances  unaccompanied  with 
any  extraneous  bones. 

It  was  owing  to  the  discovery  of  tusks,  with 
these  bones,  that  so  much  has  been  said  about 
their  being  elephantine :  but  they  are  totally 
different  in  their  form,  substance,  and  po- 
sition :  the  Elephant's  tusk  is  nearly  straight, 
and  therefore  part  of  a  very  large  circle  j  a 
very  long  tusk  of  the  Mammoth  forms  the 
half  of  a  circle  of  much  smaller  diameter,  be- 
sides having  a  peculiar  twist  or  spiral  form. 
Transverse  sections  of  the  Elephant's  tusk 
constantly  yield  the  oval  figure ;  those  of  the 
Manimoth  are  perfectly  round.  The  Elephant's 
tusks  are  uniform  ivory;  those  of  the  Mam- 
moth, are  of  two  distinct  substances,  the  inter- 
nal part  having  the  texture  of,  but  a  much 
softer  consistence  than,  ivory  3  the  outer  part 
not  having  the  texture  of,  and  actually  harder 
than,  ivory,  forming  a  very  thick  shell  over 
the  whole  tusk.     At  first  I  imagined  that  the 

internal  part  had  been  true  ivory,  which  had 

""""'""  i    " 


5^ 

suffered  decomposition;  but  to  this  idea  there 
presented  insuperable  difficulties :  ail  the 
bones  found  in  the  same  morass,  at  nearly 
an'equal  depth,  and  equally  protected  by  the 
shell  marie  and  water,  were  in  an  equal  de- 
gree of  preservation ;  but  every  bone  was  more 
decayed  than  the  ivory  in  the  body  and  roots 
of  the  teeth,  and  these  sometimes  less  perfect 
than  the  enamel.  How  could  it  happen  then 
that  the  bones  were  not  wholly  decayed,  to  cor- 
respond with  the  tusk  ?  or  why  should  this  be 
so  much  decayed,,  while  the  ivory  of  the  teeth 
is  in  such  fine  preservation,  having  been  under 
the  same  circumstances  ?  These  auestions  can- 
not  be  answered  but  in  the  belief  that  the 
tusks  (although  they  certainly  have  suffered 
some  injury)  never  could  have  been  of  the  sarnq 
consistence  as  those  of  the  Elephant. 

When  the  skeleton  v/as  first  erected,  I  was 
much  at  a  loss  how  to  dispose  of  the  tusks  3  their 
sockets  shewed  that  they  grew  out  forwards, 
but  did  not  indicate  whether  they  were  curved 
up  or  down.  I  chose,  therefore,  first  to  turn, 
them  upwards,  not  because  they  produced  the 
s^.me  effect  as  in  the  Elephant ;    for  it  is  evi-*. 

H  2 


52 

dent  they  could  not,  from  the  different  angles 
between  the  sockets  for  the  tusks  and  the  con- 
dyles of  the  neck  (as  before  remarked) ;  the 
horizontal  position  of  which  in  the  Mammoth, 
together  with  the  great  curve  of  the  tusks, 
would  elevate  them  too  high  into  the  air,  di- 
recting them  backwards,  twelve  feet  from  the 
ground ,  so  that  they  never  could  have  been 
brought  sufficiently  near  the  ground  for  any 
kind  of  purpose.  This  position  was  evidently 
absurd  5  and  there  is  infinitely  more  reason  in 
supposing  them  to  have  been  placed  like  those 
of  the  Walrus^  and  probably  for  a  similar 
purpose. 

The  tusks  which  were  found  at  Barber's 
(the  point  of  one  I  have  with  me)  exactly 
resemble  those  in  the  skeleton,  but  very  much 
worn  at  the  extremities,  and  worn  in  so  pe- 
culiar a  manner  as  could  not  have  happened 
in  an  elevated  position  j  unless  on  the  absurd 
supposition,  that  the  animal  amused  himself 
with  wearing  and  rendering  them  blunt,  by 
rubbing  them  against  high  and  perpendicular 
cliffs  of  rocks.  This,  in  a  state  of  nature, 
can  never  be  supposed,  whatever  habits  may 


53 

he  acquired  when  in  a  narrow  confinement. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  then,  of  their  having 
been  used  against  the  ground;  and  not  im- 
probably in  rooting  up  shell-fish,  or  in  climb- 
ing the  banks  of  rivers  and  lakes. 


NECK. 

The  bones  of  the  neck  do  not  materially 
differ  from  those  of  the  Elephant,  except 
that  the  spinous  processes  of  the  fifth,  sixth, 
and  seventh,  are  not  so  long  as  in  the  Ele- 
phant. 

BACK. 

The  second,  third,  and  fourth  dorsal  ver- 
tebrae are  crowned  with  immensely  long  and 
thick  processes,  which  rise  perpendicularly  over 
the  shoulders,  as  in  the  Hog  :  from  the  fourth, 
the  spinous  processes  decrease  rapidly  to  the 
twelfth  3  and  from  thence  to  the  sacrum,  in- 
cluding the  lumber  vertebrae,  they  are  scarcely 
to  be  seen.  This  conformation  differs  remark- 
ably from  the  Elephant,  which  has  a  greater 


54- 

uniformity  in  the  length  of  these  processes  ; 
those  over  the  shoulders  being  not  so  long, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  back  and  loins  much 
longer  ;  consequently  the  back  is  more  arched. 
The  vertebra  are,  seven  cervical,  nineteen  dor- 
sal, and  three  lumber — in  all  twenty-nine. 


HIPS. 

Every  eye  is  struck  with  the  dispropor- 
tionate smallness  of  the  opening  through  the 
pelvis ;  although  the  rest  of  the  bone  is  suf- 
ficiently larsie.  These  bones  are  somewhat 
broken  j  but  the  parts  uninjured  are  sufficient 
to  shew  a  very  different  form  from  those  of  the 
Elephant,  which  are  high  in  comparison  with 
their  breadth  ;  and  consequently  the  rump  of 
this  animal  was  even  more  depressed  than  the 
Elephant's,  in  the  manner  of  the  American 
Bisson  or  Buffaloe.  In  the  Elephant,  the 
angles  from  the  ossce  tabidoe  to  the  lateral  pro- 
cesses of  the  ilium,  are  very  great;  whereas 
in  the  Mammoth  they  are  almost  on  a  straight 
line. 


'SS 


TAIL, 


-The  tail  is  imperfect,  though  from  the  num- 
ber and  size  of  the  bones  it  was  probably  a 
long  one;  but  it  is  very  remarkable  that,  the 
lateral  processes  are  extremely  long,  and  the 
superior  ones  quite  short,  so  that  the  tail  must 
have  been  Inroad  and  JIat :  whereas  the  tail  of 
the  Elephant  *,  instead  of  being  broad,  is 
flattened  in  the  direction  of  the  spine,  a  little 
bristly  hair  growing  on  the  outer  edge^  and  a 
greater  quantity  of  it,  somewhat  longer,  grow- 
ing on  the  inner  edge^  which  gives  it  something 
of  a  fin-like  appearance. 


RIBS. 


From  all  the  drawings  of  Elephants,  and 
from  such  of  their  real  ribs  as  I  have  seen, 
I  have  observed  one  universal  and  unvarying 
character;  they  2S^  fiat^  like  those  of  the  Ox, 
i;W/ towards  their  head,  broad  towards  their 
junction  with  the  cartilage,  and  more  or  less 
bent  sidev^ise  in  an  undulating  form-f-;  whereas 

*  See  the  pJate,  figure  V.  , 

t  See  Camper  on  the  Elephant. 


S6 

those  of  the  Mammoth  are  extremely  narrow 
at  the  cartilage,  thick  and  strong  towards  their 
head,  and  bent  perfectly  ^^^^ww,  standing  a 
little  obliquely,  and  without  any  lateral  bend  *, 
The  first  pair  are  so  remarkable  in  their  form 
as  to  appear,  especially  when  seen  detached, 
more  like  clavicles^  being  (unlike  the  rest  of 
the  ribs)  excessively  bulky  and  broad  towards 
the  cartilage,  and  crossing  the  breast-bone  at 
right  angles,  reducing  to  a  very  small  size  and 
curious  figure  the  entrance  into  the  chest. — 
The  first  six  pair  of  ribs  are  remarkably  strong, 
especially  compared  with  the  remainder,  which 
are  extremely  small  and  comparatively  weak  5 
and  the  whole  of  them  so  short,  that  the  body 
must  have  been  of  a  very  small  proportionate 
magnitude. — The  ribs  are  19  pair. 


LEGS    AND    FEET. 

As  well  as  can  be  determined  from  the 
drawings  and  skeletons  of  Elephants,  which  are 
all  of  a  small  size  in  England,  and  therefore 

♦  See  the  plate,  figure  VI. 


SI 

bad  subjects  for  comparison,  I  am  disposed  to 
pronounce  the  legs  and  feet  considerably 
like,  those  of  the  Elephant,  differing  in  some 
particulars,  but  chiefly  in  the  proportionate 
length  and  breadth.  The  scapula  of  the  Ele- 
phant *  is  in  proportion  much  larger  than  that 
of  the  Mammoth,  and  the  upper  extremity 
cf  it  less  extended,  and  more  pointed :  in  the 
scapula  of  the  Mammoth -f-,  the  two  processes 
that  proceed  from  the  spine  are  uncommonly 
long  and  rough,  especially  the  one  pointing 
backwards  and  downwards,  extending  very 
nearly  across  the  blade,  &c.  The  humerus, 
radius,  and  ulna,  are  unusually  thick  for  their 
length,  to  which  the  fore-feet  correspond,  the 
hind-feet  not  being  near  so  large  j  whereas, 
in  the  Elephants  I  have  seen,  the  hind  are  full 
as  large  as  the  fore- feet,  and  in  some  specimens 
considerably  larger:  in  the  Mammoth  the 
bones  of  the  hind-feet  are  small,  but  full  of 
those  strong  protuberances  which  served  for 
the  attachment  of  muscle.  One  necessary 
consequence  of  this  great  bulk  of  the  radius 
and  ulna  is,  that  the  radius,  crossi^iig  the  ulna 

*  See  the  plate,   figure  VIL  f  Figure  YIII. 

I 


58 

from  the  outside  above  to  thd  inside  below, 
forms  a  greater  angle  than  if  the  bones  were 
slender  J  in  which  case  the  crossing  would 
scarcely  be  observable  : — perhaps  it  is  more 
remarkable  in  the  Mammoth  than  any  other 
animal.  In  the  toes  of  the  fore-feet  the  second 
plalanges  terminate  with  a  little  groove,  which 
indicates  that  the  third  phalanx,  to  which  the 
nail  was  attached,  was  susceptible  of  consi- 
derable motion  5  and  that  the  nail  probably 
resembled  that  of  the  Hippopotamus  rather 
than  the  Elephant.  Another  variation  from 
the  Elephant  in  the  legs  is,  that  the  difference 
in  length  between  the  thigh-bone  and  the  tibia, 
or,  in  other  words,  the  distance  from  the 
knee,  above  and  below,  is  less  remarkable  in  the 
Elephant  than  in  the  Mammoth  3  the  thigh- 
bone being  longer^  and  the  tibia  shorter^  than 
those  of  the  Elephant :  hence  the  knee  of  the 
Mammoth  must  have  been  more  equally  placed 
between  the  body  and  the  ground,  especially 
as  it  has  already  appeared  from  an  examina- 
tion of  the  ribs,  that  the  body  of  the  Mam- 
moth must  have  been  much  smaller  compara- 
tively than  that  of  the  Elephant.  As  we  are 
not   in  possession  of  the  bones  of  any  large 


59 

and  fall  grown  Elephants,  nor  any  of  the  lajge 
quadrupeds,  we  are  enabled  to  make  but  a 
very  imperfect   comparison,  by  means  of  the 
small  ones  usually  to  be  met  with  j  but,  from 
what  we  have,  there  does  not  appear  any  other 
remarkable   difference  in    the  legs   except  in 
the femori  ;  those  of  the  Elephant  being  cy/hi- 
drical^  those  of  the  Mammoth  hcmg flattened^ 
so  that  a  cross  section  of  the   former  would 
shew  a  circle,  and  of  the   latter  a   long  cvaL 
The  comparison  which   Daubenton  made  be^ 
tween  the  thigh-bones  of  the  Asiatic  Elephant, 
the  Siberian  Elephant  or  Mammouth,  and  the 
American  Incognitum  (since  called  Mammoth) 
shewed   three   successive    degrees  of  propor- 
tionate bulk  J  that  of  the  modern  Elephant 
being  the  most  slender,  and  that  of  the  /Ameri- 
can animal  the  most  bulky  in  an  equal  scale 
of  length.    He  likewise  observed  that  those  of 
the  latter  were  very  considerably  flattened,  and 
some  variation  in  the  direction   of  the  neck 
and   the  great   trochanter. — The  number   of 
bones  in  the  legs  and  feet  agree   witli  the  hu- 
man skeleton. 


I  2 


BIMENSIONS    OF    THE    SKELETON. 


Height  over  the  shoulders 
Ditto  over  the  hips  -       -       - 

Length  from  the  chin  to  the  rump 
From  the  point  of  the  tasks  to  the  end 

of  the  tail,  following  the  curve     - 
Length  in  a  straight  line 
Width  of  the  hips  and  body     - 
Length  of  the  under  jaw 
Weight  of  the  same      -       63 1  pounds 
Width  of  the  head 
Length  of  the  thigh-bone 
Smallest  circumference  of  the  same 
Length  of  the  tibia     -       -       - 
Length  of  the  humerus,  or  large  bone 

of  the  fore-leg         -       _       - 
Largest  circumference  of  the  same 
Smallest  ditto  ditto     -       -       - 
Length  of  the  radius 


Ft. 

Inch. 

II 

0 

9 

0 

15 

0 

31 

0 

17 

6 

5 

8 

2 

10 

3 

2 

3 

7 

I 

6 

2 

0 

2 

10 

3 

2i 

I 

2 

5 
5^ 

6i 

Circumference  round  the  elbow      -^      3     8 
Lengthof  the  scapula,  or  shoulder-blade  3     i 
Length  of  the  longest  vertebrae,  or  back- 
bone --__--23 

Longest  rib,  without  cartilage  -  4  7 
Length  of  the  first  rib  ---20 
Ditto  of  the  breast-bon^  --40 

Length  of  the  tusks,  defences,  or  horns  10     7 
Circumference  of  one  tooth  or  grinder  i      6| 
Weight  of  the  same,  4  pounds  i  o  ounces. 
The  whole  skeletoti  weighs  about  1000  pounds. 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


MUCH  has  been  said  on  the  subject  of  the 
bones  found  in  America  by  persons  who  ner 
ver  saw  them,  or  but  mutilated  fragments  of 
them ;  resting  their  faith  upon  what  has  been 
said  by  certain  writers  of  science  and  respect- 
ability, on  the  Mammouth  of  Siberia  5  and 
thence  falling  into  the  error,  that  those  large 
bones  found  in  America  were  of  the  same 
species. 

Many  years  ago,  when  scientific  travellers, 
several  of  whom  were  commissioned  by  the 
Emperor  of  Russia,  found  in  the  inhospitable 
regions  of  Siberia  numerous  quadruped  bones, 
of  gigantic  size,  they  learnt  from  the  pea- 
sants to  distinguish  them  by  the  term  Mam- 
mouth, an  animal  which  they  believed  to  be 
still  living.     These  bones,  inftead  of  another 


63 

name,  continued  to  be  distinguished  by  that 
originally  given  to  them,  whenever  they  be- 
came the  subject  of  disquisition.  Strahlen- 
burgh,  In  his  Hlstorico-geographical  Dic- 
tionary, deiives  this  word  from  the  Hebrew 
Behemot,  corrupted  by  the  Arabians  into  Me- 
hemot,  and  thence  into  the  Russian  Mammouty 
or  Mammoth.  But  a  short  time  elapsed, 
under  tlie  encouragement  of  the  Emperor, 
before  a  considerable  number  of  these  bones, 
and  particularly  the  heads,  were  discovered 
and  taken  to  the  imperial  cabinet  at  St.  Pe- 
tersburgh.  The  tusks  and  several  other 
bones  were,  before  this,  by  many  suspected 
to  have  been  elephantine  ^  but  the  fact  is 
now  sufficiently  established — and  they  are, 
therefore,  classed  as  an  extinct  species. — 
They  are  elephantine,  because  the  head,  from 
v/hich  the  whole  judgment  may  be  taken,  is 
furnished  with  graminivorous  teeth,  in  some 
degree  resembling  those  of  the  Asiatic  Ele- 
phant J  because  the  eye  is  hollowed  out  of 
a  slender  zygomatic  process;  because  the 
cranium  swells  out  into  two  full  conjoining 
lobes  J  because  the  horizontal  line  of  the 
teeth  is  situated,  so  as  to  form,  Vv'ith  the  con- 


64 

dyle  of  the  neck,  an  angle  of  135  degrees, 
a  line  from  the  condyle  of  the  neck  descend- 
ing in  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees  to  meet 
the  posterior  part  of  the  upper  teeth  j  because 
on  this  oblique  line,  above  the  teeth,  the  in- 
ner nostril  commences  and  runs  parallel  with 
the  teeth,  terminating  in  the  forehead,  be- 
tween the  eyes,  where  it  serves  for  the  origin 
of  the  proboscis  * ;  and,  because  the  tusks, 
which  are  of  perfect  ivory,  are  simply  curved, 
and  resembling  those  of  the  living  Elephant. 

And  yet  with  these  traits  of  resemblance, 
there  have  been  observed  in  the  head  and  other 
parts  several  features,  which  distinguish  it 
specifically  from  either  the  African  Elephant, 
or  that  of  Asia,  which  it  most  resembles.  I 
ihall  only  remark,  that  the  teeth  appear  to  be 
distinguished  by  having  the  laminse  of  enamel 

*  This  inner  nostril  in  the  Mammoth,  instead  of  having 
the  direction  mentioned  above,  runs  directly  upward  at  right 
angles  from  the  teeth,  and  terminates  in  the  broken  part  of 
the  head  posterior  to  a  concave  suiface,  which,  if  it  be  the 
cerebellum,  is  uncommonly  low  and  small.  This  inner  nos- 
tril, us  far  as  we  can  trace  it,  is  very  smooth  and  cylindrical. 
Could  the  nostril  have  terminated  as  in  the  whale,  and  for  a 
similar  purpose  ? 


6i 

thinner,  placed  in  straiter  lines  more  closely 
together,  and  much  more  numerous,  than  in 
the  -modern  Elephant. 

As  soon  as  it  was  known  in  Europe  that  bones 
of  a  larG:e  size  were  likewise  found  in  America^ 
and  either  the  thigh-bones  or  drawings  of  them 
sent  over,  they  were  instantly  pronounced  the 
same  as  those  found  in  Siberia ;  and,  from  the 
circumstance  of  this  opinion  having  been  so 
hastily  expressed,  there  have  been  some  whose 
mature  judgment  has  been  satisfied  with  en- 
creasing  proofs,  who.  have,  nevertheless,  been 
weak  enousrh  to  be  ashamed  to  confess  it.  For  it 
is  a  fact  of  which  almost  every  man  of  any  ob- 
servation may  have  had  sufficient  proof,  that 
even  am^ong  men  of  real  science,  trath  suffers 
more  from  the  tenacity  of  opinion  once  expres- 
sed ^  than  from  a  want  of  love  for  it — all  men  love 
it,  but  fear  to  be  thought  v/eathercocks J  and,  cer- 
tain that  they  are  not  deities,  they  shrink  from 
the  imputation  of  infallibility !  Every  anatomist 
knows  that  a  judgment  pronounced  from  one 
bone  is  liable  to  error ;  and,  in  fact,  there  was 
no  more  reason  to  pronounce  the  Femori,  found 
in   America,    to  be  elephantine,    than  there 

K 


66 

would  have  been  to  decide  the  Humeri,  which 
accompanied  them,  to  have  belonged  to  a 
gigantic  Horse;  for  th^  Humeri  of  the  Mam-? 
moth  do  not  differ  so  much  from  those  of  the 
Horse,  as  the  Femori  do  from  those  of  the 
]p^lephant. 

The  bones  found  in  America  were  always 
accompanied  with  teeth  of  a  very  peculiar 
structure,  unlike  those,  whether  large  or  small, 
belonging  to  any  animal  known,  but  most 
resembling  those  of  the  Hog,  and  the  young 
and  unused  teeth  of  the  Hippopotamus  :  they 
were,  therefore,  suspected  to  have  been  part 
of  an  immense  Hippopotamus,  rather  thaix 
tolerate  the  idea  that  there  had  ever  existed  a. 
species  of  animal  no  longer  in  existence.  But 
since  it  was  evident  that  there  had  existed  a 
large  unknown  quadruped,  of  which  these, 
were  the  teeth,  how  could  it  appear  improba* 
ble  that  the  other  bones  accompanying  them 
should  have  belonged  to  the  same  animal^ 
because  they  bore  some  resemblance  to  the 
Elephant?  Yet  it  was  doubtful:  and,  while 
Butlbn,  Daubenton,  Gmellin,  and  Sloane, 
were  afraid  to  find  the  bones  otherwise  than. 


elephantine,  Hunter  was  the  only  naturalist, 
who,  judging  impartially,  and  abiding  by  the 
invariable  features  of  nature,  was  satisfied  that 
they  were  not,  and  that  the  teeth  were  never  used 
in  the  mastication  of  vegetables.  The  weight 
of  Hunter's  authority  inclined  many  to  his 
opinion  among  the  English,  but  more  among 
the  French  and  Germans  confided  in  the  judg- 
ment of  Daubenton.  The  discovery  of  two 
skeletons,  and  a  third  collection  of  bones,  in 
the  state  of  New- York,  has  put  the  subject 
beyond  the  reach  of  question;  and  we  are  now 
satisfied  that  there  formerly  existed  a  stupen^ 
dous  animal  in  North  America,  with  many 
peculiar  characters.  If  there  were  no  other 
instances  of  the  remains  of  unknown,  I  may 
say,  extinct  animals,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
receive  this  as  the  first  evidence  of  the  kindj 
but  the  world  teems  with  them ;  all  Europe 
abounds  with  them ;  and  in  America  already 
there  have  been  foundy^^r  of  a  large  size,  and, 
several  of  a  smaller. 

The  immense  quantity  of  animal  remains 
found  in  limestone,  and  the  perfect  impres- 
sions of  vegetables  in  slate,  not  only  prove  a 

K   2 


68 


long  period  of  time  to  have  elapsed  since  they 
existed,  but  that  these  extraordinary  incrus- 
tations were  effected  in  some  sudden  revolu- 
tions, and  that  they  must  have  lived  and  pro- 
pagated a  period  of  time  before  those  events, 
And  it  is  evident  that  there  have  been  succes- 
sive revolutions  or  changes  of  this  kind,  by 
the  repetition  of  similar  strata,  at  various 
depths,  with  regular  intermediate  soils.  I 
shall  here  introduce  a  proof,  connected  with 
our  subject,  and  otherwise  interesting.  Be- 
sides the  skeletons  with  carnivorous  teeth, 
found  in  New-  York  and  elsewhere  in  America, 
there  have  been  found  in  Kentucky  several 
very  large  graminivorous  teeth,  never  known 
to  be  accompanied  with  any  other  parts  (un- 
less perhaps  the  tusks),  and  always  much  de- 
cayed. They  appear  to  me  exactly  like  those 
found  in  Siberia ;  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
attributing  them  to  a  more  remote  age  than 
that  in  which  the  Mammoth  lived,  unless  we 
suppose  the  bones  of  the  Mammoth  to  be  of 
a  more  dense  nature  and  less  liable  to  decay : 
that  they  are  astonishingly  dense  is  sufficiently 
obvious  from  some  few  specimens ;  but  I  can 
scarcely  imagine  the   others  to  have  been  so 


6g 

much  softer  as  wholly  to  have  disappeared, 
except  the  grinders  and  some  tusks,  while  such 
numbers  of  the  former  still  remain  in  good 
preservation. 

It  is  not  sufficiently  knov/n  that  there  have 
been  large  graminivorous  teeth  found  in 
America  ;  and  by  those  who  know  it  the  pro- 
per inferences  are  not  generally  formed.  That 
there  are  found  in  America  teeth  sim.il^!:,  to 
those  discovered  in  Siberia,  proves  either  that 
the  same  animal  has  inhabited  the  two  coun- 
tries, and  therefore  that  there  must  have  been' 
at  some  period  a  communication,  or  that  a 
deluge  has  deposited  some  of  their  carcasses 
in  America ;  but,  from  the  paucity  of  their 
remains,  compared  with  the  astonishing  num- 
bers discovered  in  Siberia,  whence  they  have 
long  been  taken  as  an  article  of  commerce, 
and  still  continue  abundant,  it  it  certain,  that 
if  they  did  inhabit  America,  it  had  been  but 
for  a  short  time ;  or  they  originally  inhabited 
America,  and  thence  spread  into  Siberia,  and 
were' destroyed  in  America  antecedent  to  their 
destruction  in   Siberia :  for  it  must  be  asrain 

remarked,  that  while  their  remains  (particu- 
I 


7°       , 

larly  the  tusks  and  teeth)  are  frequently  in 
excellent  preservation  in  Siberia,  none  have 
ever  been  found  in  America  but  in  the  extreme 
of  decay:  at  any  rate,  that  there  is  this  dif- 
ference in  the  kind  and  preservation  of  these 
bones  must  be  an  interesting  fact  to  natural- 
ists, and  lead  to  some  particular  conclusions, 
since  it  must  have  been  owing  to  some  par- 
ticular causes  5  either  such  as  I  have  imagined, 
or  others  equally  conclusive. 

The  Mammouth  bones  found  in  Siberia,  hav- 
ing given  name  to  the  great  fossil  bones  of 
America,  those  writers  who,  from  observation, 
knew  the  former  to  be  elephantine,  concluded 
the  latter  to  be  so  likewise,  especially  if  they 
happened  to  hear  any  thing  of  the  great  grami- 
nivorous teeth  above-mentioned :  they  there- 
fore adopted  the  idea,  that  the  various  leg- 
bones,  &c.  found  on  the  Ohio,  were  part  of 
the  same  animal  which  owned  these  teeth  j 
and  that  the  jaw-bones,  with  carnivorous  or 
conic-ridged  teeth,  were  the  only  remains  of 
some  other  stupendous  being,  analagous  to  the 
Hyppopotamus :  but  three  unquestionable 
facts  now  prove  the  reverse  to  be  the  case. 


7? 

though  one  would  be  sufficient,  if  the  whole 
skeleton  was  found  together  almost  all  united, 
and  without  any  extraneous  bones,  as  was 
the  case  with  the  skeleton  discovered  in  Ulster 
County,  New- York,  and  erected  in  the  Phi- 
ladelphia museum :  and  we  are  now  satisfied 
that  no  other  parts  of  the  animal  which  owned 
the  graminivorous  teeth  and  ivory  tusks  have 
been  yet  discovered,  because  no  other  bones 
have  been  found,  but  such  as  perfectly  resem- 
ble the  skeletons  dug  up  in  New- York,  and 
which  so  materially  differ  from  the  Elephant. 

Hitherto  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn 
whether  even  a  single  tooth  of  the  American 
Incognitum  has  ever  been  discovered  in  Si- 
beria ;  and,  until  we  shall  have  at  least  one 
authenticated  fact  of  this  kind,  we  must  con- 
clude that  this  animal  was  peculiar  to  America. 
Nevertheless,  I  am  disposed  to  think  there 
may  yet  be  found  in  Siberia  these  carnivorous 
teeth,  because,  as  was  observed  before,  teeth 
similar  to  the  graminivorous  ones  of  Siberia 
are  found  in  America.  Indeed  it  is  by  no 
means  improbable  that  as  they  were  both  in- 
habitants of  the  same  climate,  in  different  Ion- 


72 

gltudes,  a  few  from  either  country  may  havd; 
migrated  into  the  other ;  for  the  carnivorous 
teeth,  and  their  appropriate  bones,  are  as 
abundant  in  America  as  the  graminivorous  or 
elephantine  remains  are  in  Siberia.  I  am, 
therefore,  of  opinion,  mere  from  this  circum- 
stance than  any  other,  that  there  must  have 
been  a  communication  between  the  two  con- 
tinents, since  it  is  now  "a  well  established  fact, 
that  every  country  has  its  peculiar  inhabitants. 
Had  the  celebrated  Buffon  attended  better  to 
this  truth,  he  would  have  saved  himself  some 
needless  observations  and  theoretic  fancies, 
with  respect  to  the  old  and  new  world ;  but 
we  should  likewise  have  lost  the  able  reply  of 
Jefferson.  It  is  not  because  the  climate  and 
productions  of  South  America  are  unfavour- 
able to  the  production  of  Elephants,  that  they 
are  not  found  there ;  but  it  is  because  the 
Elephant  is  not  an  American,  nor  the  Mam- 
moth an  African,  animal  :  some  violence  has 
destroyed  one,  while  the  other  still  lives ;  and 
was  even  the  Megatherium  in  existence, 
it  would  reflect  no  discredit  on  Africa,  Asia, 
or  Europe,  that  neither  of  them  possessed  a 
SLOTH  of  such  stupendous  magnitude  ! 


73 

I  have  frequently  been  asked,  if  from  ap- 
pearances it  could  be  determined  whether  the 
Mammoth  originally  inhabited  America,  or 
the  carcases  of  them  may  not  have  been  depo- 
sited there?  This  question  is  best  answered  by 
others:  if  not  originally  of  America,  w^here 
alone  their  bones  are  found,  and  in  consider- 
able numbers,  from  what  country  could  a 
deluge  have  transported  them,  that  not  one 
trace  is  left  behind  ?  Besides,  since  they  are 
only  found  in  one  country,  why  should  we 
seek  occasion  to  admit  the  improbable  idea 
that  they  belonged  to  another  ? 

It  is  an  extraordinary  circumstance,  that  in 
the  salt-lick  on  the  Ohio,  these  bones,  large 
and  small,  young  and  old,  are  intermixed  with 
the  bones  of  Buffaloes  and  Deer  j  as  if  what 
the  Indians  say  had  been  really  the  case,  and 
that  these  were  the  collected  remains  of  ages, 
of  those  sickly  animals  which  had  died  during 
their  visit  to  ^^he  salt  morass ;  for  it  is 
well  known  that  to  this  salt  morass  and 
others  in  Kentucky,  there  are  broad  roads 
made  by  Buffaloes  and  Deer,  w^hich  are  seen 
greedily  to  drink  the  salt  water  or  lick  the  salt 


74- 

eartli,  whence  the  name  of  the  salt  licking 
place.  Yet  in  the  state  of  New-York,  where 
these  skeletons  were  discovered,  only  the  re- 
mains, or  part  of  the  remains,  of  one  animal 
have  been  found  in  one  place,  and  those  so 
much  together  as  sufficiently  to  prove  that  the 
whole  carcase  has  been  there,  whether  left  by 
death  or  a  deluge. 

Still  I  think  that  a  deluge  has  devastated 
the  whole  of  that  part  of  America,  because 
the  country  abounds  with  petrifactions  of 
marine  productions,  and  such  as  we  know 
now  are  to  be  found  only  in  the  tropical  seas  : 
but  these  proofs  are  found  every  where,  and 
may  be  antecedent  to  the  existence  or  destruc- 
tion of  these  animals  in  that  part  j  and  their 
total  extinction  may  have  been  occasioned  by 
some  other  extraordinary  revolution,  for  ex- 
traordinary it  must  have  been  to  have  produced 
an  effect,  the  tendency  of  which  the  human 
mind  is  unable  to  comprehend:  but  these 
great  facts  speak  an  universal  language,  and 
compel  us  to  believe  that  a  time  has  been 
when  numbers  of  animals,  and  what  is  more 
extraordinary,  larger  animals  than   now  re- 


is 

■main,  existed,  had  their  day,  and  have  pe- 
rished ^  and  yet  the  fanciful  chain  of  nature  is 
not  broken !  or  else  a  new  chain  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  old.  Formerly  it  was  as  un- 
philosophical  and  impious  to  say  that  any 
thing  ceased  to  exist  which  had  been  created, 
as  it  is  now  to  say  the  reverse,  because  innu- 
merable concurring  facts  prove  that  the  races  of 
many  animals  have  become  extinct  j  since  it  is 
not  possible  that  so  many,  and  such  large  ani- 
mals, should  live  unknown,  although  one  or 
two  species  might. 

In  another  place  I  have  pointed  those  cir- 
cumstances, wherein  the  head  of  the  Mam- 
moth and  that  of  the  Elephant  materially 
differ;  my  object  in  this  place  is  to  hazard 
some  ideas  relative  to  the  habits  and  the  food 
of  the  former.  When  it  has  been  said  of  the 
Mammoth  that  it  must  have  been  carnivorous, 
the  word  was  not  intended  to  convey  the  idea  of 
his  being  a  beast  of  prey^  like  the  tiger,  wolf, 
&c.  but  that  his  food  must  have  been  animal^ 
because  all  vegetables  (except  fruit)  require 
peculiar  instruments  to  file,  bruise,  or  grind 
them,  totally  unlike  the  teeth  of  the  Mam- 

L   2 


76 

moth.  But  as  no  other  animal  whatever  has 
teeth  whose  mechanical  action  at  all  corres- 
ponds with  those  of  the  Mammoth,  we  are 
forbid  by  the  invariable  concordance  of  nature, 
to  suppose  that  his  food  could  have  resembled 
that  of  those  whose  teeth  are  differently  con- 
structed. The  teeth  of  all  animals  living  on 
grass,  bark,  branches,  roots,  nuts,  &c.  are 
veined  internally  with  enamel,  and  they  ope- 
rate by  grinding  backwards  and  forwards,  like 
the  Elephant,  Squirrel,  &c. ;  from  side  to  side, 
like  the  Horse,  Sheep,  &c.  j  or  in  a  circular 
manner  produced  by  both  motions,  Ox,  Ass, 
&c.  And  in  all  these  animals  their  teeth 
seem  expressly  constructed  to  accord  with  such 
motions ;  so  invariable  indeed,  that  any  one 
may  arrange  these  graminivorous  teeth,  whe- 
ther the  animals  to  which  they  belonged  be 
known  or  unknovv^n  to  him,  by  a  very  simple 
rule  :  When  the  action  of  the  jaws  is  back- 
wards and  forwards,  the  enamel  runs,  more  or 
less,  r.crcss  the  teeth ;  when  the  action  is  from 
side  to  side,  the  enamel  is  more  or  less  length- 
wise ;  and  when  there  is  the  rotatory  motion, 
the  ligure  of  the  enamel  is  more  irregular  and 
serpentine,    resembling   a    Chinese  character. 


77 

Another  thing  worthy  of  attention  is,  that  in 
those  animals  whose  teeth  are  to  answer  no 
other  purpose  than  mere  mastication,  the 
enamel  does  not  reach  the  edge  of  them  ;  but 
in  the  teeth  of  the  Sheep,  Goat,  Deer,  &c. 
which  are  frequently  used  in  tearing  off  bark, 
the  enamel,  besides  pervading  the  whole  tooth, 
likewise  forms  a  sharp  edge  to  it,  so  as  to 
answer  the  purpose  of  a  knife.  I  take  the 
merit  of  these  observations  to  myself,  because 
I  have  never  met  with  any  of  a  similar  nature : 
but  cursorily  as  I  have  mentioned  them,  they 
must  appear  of  some  importance,  and,  I  be- 
lieve, will  lead  to  further  and  more  satisfactory 
investigation. 

This  is  a  short  survey  of  those  instruments 
which  are  intended  to  subjugate  the  vegetable 
tribes :  it  must  be  obvious,  that  to  make  as 
universal  an  use  of  the  animal  world  will  re- 
quire a  much  greater  variety ;  and  accordingly 
the  Lion,  Tyger,  Bear,  Wolf,  Opossum,  Rac- 
coon, Ant-eater,  Crocodile,  &c.  are  all  variously 
armed  for  destruction. 

If  the  Mammoth  was  intended  to  live  en- 


7B 

tirely  upon  shell-fish,  no  other  teeth  would 
be  required  than  such  as  those  of  the  Walrus, 
simply  operating  as  two  hammers ;  if  his 
food  had  been  the  flesh  of  quadrupeds,  his 
teeth  would  have  been  similar  to  those  of  the 
Tyger  or  Lyon ;  but  since  we  actually  find 
them  to  have  the  powers  of  both  combined,  is 
it  unreasonable  to  believe  that  his  food  might 
have  been  shell-fish,  turtles,  fish,  or  su<:h 
other  animals  as  might  be  found  in  or  near 
lakes?  This  is  the  only  kind  of  food  he  could 
conveniently  procure,  and  surely  none  could 
be  required  of  a  more  succulent  nature.  It  is 
very  certain,  from  the  peculiar  manner  in 
which  the  teeth  are  worn,  that  the  food  was 
hard,  and  of  a  small  size,  because  the  strongly 
enamelled  protuberances  are  scarcely  ever 
found  equally  worn  off,  but  only  on  one  side. 
This  observation  can  only  be  made  on  the  teeth 
of  old  animals  ;  but  it  is  sufficiently  apparent 
in  the  skeleton  here,  and  very  remarkable  in 
that  at  Philadelphia.  Whatever  was  the  food, 
after  it  was  taken  into  the  mouth,  the  tongue 
has  performed  its  most  natural  function,  and 
pushed  the  substance  to  be  crushed  against  the 
cheek,  so  that  the  pressure  of  the  tongue  and 


the  elasticity  of  the  cheek,  counteracting  each 
other,  have  constantly  directed  the  food  in  the 
proper  manner,  so  that  the  teeth  have  con- 
stantly acted  against  the  inner  edge   (of  the 
shell  for  instance)  until   sufficiently  broken, 
consequently  the  teeth  of  the  lower  jaw  are  only 
worn  next  the  cheek  j  besides,  the  tusks  could 
jiotanswera  betterpurpose  than  that  of  rooting 
up  such  food,  or  in  assisting  the  animal,   in 
the  manner  of  the   Walrus,    to  ascend    the 
banks :  botli  the  jaws  resemble  those  of  tire 
Walrus  more  than  the   Elephant,  and  so  do 
the  tusks  in  substance,  position  and  use — but, 
jn  speaking  of  position,  I  do  not  so  much  mean 
my  conjecture  of  their  position  downwards,  as 
of  the  relative  situation  of  their  sockets  with 
respect  to  the  condyle  of  the  neck,  which  evi- 
dently requires  such  art  arrangement  of  tusks, 
as  much  as  the  Elephant,  whose  sockets  arc 
so  much   lower  than   his  neck,  requires  his 
nearly  straight  tusks  to  be  directed  towards  the 
earth :  any  other   position  in  the  Mammoth 
would  render  them  more  cumbersome  and  in- 
convenient, without  any  obvious  purpose  to 
be  answered. 


8o 


From  an  examination  of  the  teeth,  it  would 
therefore  appear  that  the  Mammoth  probably 
fed  in  and  about  lakes,  on  such  animals  as 
could  not  well  escape  him,  and  which  would 
not  require  much  artifice  or  speed  to  be  caught, 
nothing  more  being  necessary  than  his  long 
tusks  and  some  powerful  protuberant  cartila- 
genous  instrument,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
up  his  prey,  whether,  like  the  Elephant,  it  was 
a  nose  elongated  j  or  like  the  Walrus,  it  was 
a  large  and  powerful  lip;  or  like  the  Ant-eater, 
it  was  a  long  and  powerful  tongue. 

From  ihe  form  of  the  animal  otherwise, 
we  should  imagine  a  lake  and  its  neighbour- 
hood to  be  its  proper  residence,  without  any 
reference  to  the  teeth  -,  but  when  both  lead  to 
the  same  idea  it  derives  two-fold  strength. 
Besides  that  the  ribs  (except  those  connected 
with  the  scapula)  are  wonderfully  deficient  in 
size  and  strength,  and  therefore  not  at  all 
calculated  to  bear  any  weight  of  stomach  cor- 
responding in  size  with  such  animals  as  de- 
vour vast  quantities  of  vegetables,  they  are 
evidently  too  small  to  accord  even  with  the 


St. 

bodies  of  beasts  of  prey  in  general,  which, 
succulent  as  their  food  may  be,  are  frequently 
under  the  necessity  of  eating  voraciously.  In 
the  Mammoth,  after  observing  that  the  teeth . 
are  admirably  calculated  for  mastication,  we 
cannot  but  be  astonished  at  the  smallness  of 
the  opening  into  the  chest  through  the  first 
pair  of  ribs,  the  smallness  of  the  body  about' 
the  loins,  and  the  narrow  outlet  through  the 
pelvis ;  all  which  circumstances,  in  conjunction 
with  the  astonishing  strength  of  the  fore-legs, 
to  enable  so  large  an  animal  to  displace  a 
denser  medium  than  air,  lead  to  the  idea,  that 
these  great  animals  must  have  inhabited  or 
frequented  the  great  lakes  of  America,  which 
we  have  reason  to  think  were  even  more  nu- 
merous and  larger  than  they  are  at  present. 

That  their  remains  should  always  be  found 
in  morasses,  which  evidently  have  been  lakes, 
or  in  those  situations  where  lakes  must  neces- 
sarily have  been,  has  appeared  to  many  a  suf- 
ficient proof  of  their  having  inhabited  such 
places  :  but  although  I  believe  they  did,  it  does 
not  appear  necessary  to  induce  this  inference 
from  a  fact  that  may  be  otherwise  accounted 

M 


82 

for  J  for  after  the  destruction  of  these  animals, 
whether  by  water  or  otherwise,  their  remains 
could  not  have  been  preserved  in  any  other 
situation,  because  in  no  other  situation  could 
they  be  so  well  excluded  from  the  air. 

On  digging  into  these  morasses  you  gene» 
rally  have  to  remove  from  one  to  two  feet  of 
peat  or  turf:  you  then  enter  on  a  stratum, 
from  one  to  two  feet  thick,  of  what  the  far- 
mers call  the  yellow  marie,  composed  of  vege- 
table earth  intermixed  with  long  yellow  roots : 
next  the  grey  marie,  which  resembles  wet  ashes, 
to  the  further  depth  of  two  feet  j  and  finally  a 
bed  of  decayed  shells,  which  they  call  shell- 
marle,  the  upper  surface  of  which  forms  a 
horizontal  line  across  the  morass,  consequently 
it  is  thicker  at  the  center  than  at  the  edges : 
under  this,  forming  the  bottom  of  the  pond  or 
morass,  is  found  gravel  and  slate  covering  a 
thick  stratum  of  clay.  It  was  in  the  white 
and  grey  marie  the  bones  were  generally  found  j 
those  in  the  white  in  the  highest  preservation, 
less  so  in  the  grey,  and  where  an  end  hap- 
pened to  rise  into  the  yellow  stratum  it  was 
proportionally  decayed :    one   cause  of   this 


83 

must  have  been  the  accession  of  air  when  the 
springs  in  dry  seasons  were  low. 

The  grey  marie,  in  which  many  of  the 
bones  lay,  by  analysis  was  found  to  contain 
seventy-three  parts  in  the  hundred  of  lime : 
when  dried  in  the  sun  it  cracks  into  thin  hori- 
zontal laminas,  and  becomes  extremely  light, 
as  hard  as  baked  clay,  and  brittle  j  in  this  state 
it  burns  with  a  bright  flame  for  a  long  while, 
and  instead  of  leaving  ashes,  it  remains  a 
strong  black  coal,  apparently  well  adapted  to 
the  purposes  of  the  arts. 

These  various  strata  are  the  production  of  a 
long  succession  of  ages,  and  undoubtedly  have 
been  formed  over  the  bones.  In  two  of  the 
morasses  there  was  not  depth  sufficient  to 
have  bemired  an  animal  of  such  magnitude 
and  strength  ;  and  in  the  third  the  bones  were 
lying  near  the  sloping  edge,  from  which  some 
of  them  had  already  been  washed  farther  in. 
The  animals  have  either  died  or  been  destroyed 
generally  over  the  country,  and  only  in  these 
situations  have  been  preserved ;  or  they  have 

M   2 


84 

sought  these  cool  places  to  die  in  -,  or  perhaps 
both. 

No  calculation  can  be  made  of  the  length  of 
time  necessary  to  have  formed  these  morasses, 
although  we  are  certain  that,  as  in  fifty  years 
past  scarcely  any  change  appears,  it  must  have 
been  proportionally  slower  in  the  commence- 
ment 3  a::d  a  period  has  elapsed  in  which  all  ac- 
counts of  this  animal  have  dwindled  into 
oblivdonj  unless  a  confused  Indian  tradition 
about  the  great  Buffalo  be  supposed  connected 
with  it. 

Among  the  remains  of  gigantic  and  un- 
known aiiim  Is,  found  in  America,  one  of  the 
Ox  or  B  u  F  F  A  L  o  kind  was  lately  discovered  near 
the  big-bf ,  ■■  lick  in  Kentucky*.  Tiie  right 
horn  is  hoiv^n  off,  and  all  the  fore  part  of  the 
head ;  but  f.  om  the  fragment  remaining,  it  is 
a  reasonable  conjecture,  that  the  Buffalo  to 
which  it  belonged  was  about  10  or  11  feet 
high.  The  pith  of  the  horn  at  the  base  mea- 
sures 21  ihccvS  in   circumference,  and  tapers 

*  See  the  Philosophical  Magazine  for  May  1803,  p«  325- 


8s 

very  gently  towards  the  extremity  where  it  is 
broken  off;  so  that  the  horn  itself  could  not 
have  been  less  than  six  feet  in  length:  from  the 
middle  suture  on  the  head  to  the  base  of  the 
horn  the  measure  is  seven  inches  and  a  half; 
consequently  the  two  horns  were  15  inches 
distant,  which  must  have  been  en  creased  when 
they  were  partly  covered  with  fiosh,  skiii,  and 
hair. 

.  Until  the  discovery  of  this  bone  in  Amen  -."•, 
the  tradition  of  the  Indians  concerning  t..» 
GRKAT  Buffalo  has  been  considered  by 
many  as  entitled  to  very  little  attention  Some 
have  interpreted  it  as  having  entire  ie??rencc 
to  the  animal  we  now  call  Mammoth,  whose 
pre-eminent  size  was  so  obvious,  and  wac^z 
carnivorous  teeth  were  well  calculated  to  ex- 
cite terror;  but  I  have  now  no  hesLatlon  m 
believing  that  this  tradition  of  the  Indians, 
which,  with  such  little  vaiia'ion,  preva'.la 
through  all  North  America,  mentioning  the 
ancient  existence  of  a  great  Bufiilo,  is  ?.  tra- 
dition really  handed  down  to  them  from  tl:eir 
forefathers;  but,  like  all  others,  clouded  with 
fable  :  yet  it  is  not  improbable,  since  we  find 


86 

the  remains  of  the  Mammoth  and  the  great 
Buffalo  in  the  same  country,  that  the  distinct 
ideas  of  each  have  heen  in  time  confounded, 
the  terrible  power  of  the  one  with  the  name  of 
the  other.  This  ideta,  however,  is  very  un- 
certain ;  but  as  it  has  been  usual  to  mention 
the  bones  of  the  Mammoth  and  the  tradition 
together,  it  will  not  be  uninteresting  if  we  take 
notice  of  it  here,  especially  as  it  is  a  specimen 
of  the  Indian  mode  of  description,  which  is 
always  highly  poetical,  and  much  in  the  stile 
of  Ossian. 


INDIAN  TRADITION. 


"  Ten  thousand  moons  ago,  when  nought 
but  gloomy  forests  covered  this  land  of  the 
sleeping  sun  j  long  before  the  pale  men,  with 
thunder  and  fire  at  their  command,  rushed  on 
the  wings  of  the  wind  to  ruin  this  garden  of 


nature ;  when  nought  but  the  untamed  wan- 
derers of  the  woods,  and  men  as  unrestrained 
as  they  were  the  lords  of  the  soil ;  a  race  of 
animals  existed,  huge  as  the  frowning  precipice, 
cruel  as  the  bloody  panther,  swift  as  the  de- 
scending eagle,  and  terrible  as  the  angel  of 
night.  The  pines  crashed  beneath  their  feet, 
and  the  lake  shrunk  when  they  slaked  their 
thirst ;  the  forceful  javelin  in  vain  was  hurled, 
and  the  barbed  arrow  fell  harmless  from  their 
side.  Forests  were  laid  waste  at  a  meal  *;  the 
groans  of  expiring  animals  were  every  where 
heard,  and  whole  villages,  inhabited  by  men, 
were  destroyed  in  a  moment.  The  cry  of  uni- 
versal distress  extended  even  to  the  region  of 
peace  in  the  west,  and  the  good  Spirit  inter- 
posed to  save  the  unhappy.  The  forked  light- 
ning gleamed  around,  and  loudest  thunder 
rocked  the  globe  !  The  bolts  of  heaven  were 
hurled  upon  the  cruel  destroyers  alone,  and 
the  mountains  echoed  with  the  bellowings  of 
death.  All  were  killed  except  one  male,  the 
fiercest  of  the  race,  and  him,  even  the  artillery 

•  These  passages  must  allude  to  a  herd  of  them. 


88 

of  the  skies  assailed  in  vain  *.  He  ascended 
the  bluest  summit  which  shades  the  source  of 
the  Monangahela,  and,  roaring  aloud,  bid  de- 
fiance to  every  vengeance.  The  red  lightning 
scorched  the  lofty  firs,  and  rived  the  knotty  oaks, 
but  only  glanced  upon  the  enraged  monster -f-. 
At  length,  maddened  v^ith  fury,  he  leaped  over 
the  weaves  of  the  west  at  a  bound,  and  this  mo- 
ment reigns  the  uncontrouled  monarch  of  the 
wilderness,  in  despite  of  even  Omnipotence  it- 
self." 

The  language  of  this  Tradition  J  is  certainly 
English,  and  perhaps  a  little  too  highly  dress- 
ed ;    but  the    ideas   are  truly   Indian :    it  is 

•  It  Is  a  curious  coincidence  of  circumstances,  that  In  the 
writings  of  an  ancient  Jew  rabbi,  a  Jewish  tradidon  is  men- 
tioned, stating  or,e  of  the  anlnTals  described  in  Job  under  the 
name  of  Behemoth  (from  which  the  term  Mammoth  by  ac- 
cident has  been  derived)  is  still  living  somewhere,  and  re- 
served ;is  a  feast  for  the  Jews  on  their  restoration. 

t  The  beauty  of  this  passage  can  only  be  felt  by  those  who 
know  what  an  American  thunder-storm  is,  and  who  know, 
that  while  by  a  stroke  of  lightning  the  oak  is  shattered  to 
pieces,  the  ruinojs  fir  is  only  Inflamed. 

X  Which  I  first  found  in  Gary's  Museum  for  1789,  and 
since  in  Wiuterbotham's  History  of  America. 


89 

given  in  another  form  in  Jefferson's  notes  on 
Virginia.  It  states  "  that  in  ancient  times  a 
herd  of  these  animals  came  to  the  big-bone 
lick,  and  began  an  universal  destruction  of  the 
bears,  buffaloes,  deer,  and  all  the  animals 
created  for  the  use  of  the  Indians :  this  so 
displeased  the  great  Spirit,  that  he  descended 
upon  a  neighbouring  mountain,  where  there 
is  still  to  be  seen  the  print  of  his  seat,  and  of 
one  foot,  and  hurling  his  bolts  among  them, 
killed  them  all  but  the  great  bull,  who,  pre- 
senting his  forehead  to  the  shafts,  shook  them 
off  as  they  fell :  at  length,  missing  one,  it 
wounded  him  in  the  side,  and  he  leaped  over 
the  Wabash,  the  lilenois,  and  the  great 
lakes,  where  he  still  lives." 

A  few  years  since  some  large  bones,  of  an 
uncommon  kind,  were  found  in  a  cave  in  Vir- 
ginia, highly  preserved  by  lying  in  earth 
abounding  with  nitre.  They  were  sent  to  the 
Philosophical  Society,  and  an  account  of  them 
published  in  the  fourth  volume  of  their 
Tranfactions :  by  permission  of  the  Society, 
I  have  made  accurate  casts  of  them. 


N 


9^ 

Hence  It  appears  that  four  animals  of  enor- 
mous magnitude  have  formerly  existed  in 
America,  perhaps  at  the  fame  time,  and  of  na- 
tures very  opposite  :  isty  The  Mammoth,  car- 
nivorous J  2d,  An  animal  whose  graminivorous 
teeth,  larger  than,  and  different  from,  those  of 
the  elephant,  are  sometimes  found ,  3^,  The 
great  Indian  bull ;  and,  4/^^,  An  animal  pro- 
bably of  the  sloth  kind,  as  appears  on  compa- 
rison with  the  bones  found  in  Virginia,  and  a 
skeleton  found  in  South  America,  and  pre- 
served in  the  Museum  at  Madrid. 

How  long  since  these  animals  have  existed, 
we  shall  perhaps  ever  remain  in  ignorance, 
as  no  judgment  can  be  formed  from  the 
quantity  of  vegetable  soil  which  has  accumu- 
lated over  their  bones.  Certain  we  are  that 
they  existed  in  great  abundance,  from  the 
number  of  their  remains  which  are  found  in 
America.  We  are  likewise  sure  that  they  must 
have  been  destroyed  by  some  sudden  and 
powerful  cause  j  and  nothing  appears  more 
probable  than  one  of  those  deluges,  or  sud- 
den irruptions  of  the  sea,  which  have  left  their 
traces  (such  as  shells,  corals,  6cc.)   in  every 


91 

part  of  the  globe.  It  is,  therefore,  extremely 
probable  that  whenever  and  by  whatever 
means  the  extirpation  of  these  tremendous 
animals  was  effected,  the  same  cause  muft 
have  operated  in  the  destruction  of  all  those 
inhabitants  from  whom  there  might  have  been 
transmitted  some  satisfactory  account  of  these 
stupendous  beings,  which  at  all  times  must 
have  filled  the  human  mind  with  surprise  and 
wonder. 


i 


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